After their 2025 cancellation due to rain and safety issues at the Bangalow Showground, the Byron Writers Festival is back for 2026, and the much-anticipated 2026 events program has now been published.
Promising literary market stalls, book signing opportunities plus fascinating discussions, panels, and performances facilitated by some of Australia’s keenest literary minds plus writers, poets, and orators from around the wider world, the Byron Writers Festival 2026 promises three enriching days for eventgoers, with prominent speakers and participants including Trent Dalton (Boy Swallows Universe, Lola in the Mirror, Gravity Let Me Go), Richard Flanagan (The Sound of One Hand Clapping, The Narrow Road to the Deep North, Question 7), and many more.
Themed ‘Sanctuary’, the 2026 festival program seeks to pay homage to ‘the doing of writing, reading, and thinking’, spotlighting the introspective power of literature ‘in a tumultuous world’, in the words of festival CEO and artistic director Jessica Alice.
Key Dates & Other Information
The 2026 Byron Writers Festival will run for the duration of the weekend of Friday 14 August to Sunday 16 August, with feature events spread out throughout the 3-day itinerary. Ticketholders can purchase either a one-day pass or three-day pass that covers all 110 sessions across Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. There are also options to secure tickets for feature events, which are separately-ticketed events from the wider 2026 program.
$10 all-day parking is available for eventgoers, or eventgoers also have the option to use the Festival shuttle bus which will be running services from the showgrounds and Cavanbah Centre, 249 Ewingsdale Road, Byron Bay.
Note: whilst festival planners have recognised it’s unlikely that the event will not proceed, eventgoers will be offered a refund for all passes including parking in the event that there is another cancellation this year. Note, however, that the festival refund only covers festival passes. Eventgoers travelling from interstate or overseas are advised to secure refunds on travel expenses independently via their private travel insurance.
Feature Events: What’s the Line-up for 2026?
There are six feature events included in the 2026 festival line-up, all taking place across the evenings of Friday 14 August and Saturday 15 August. Note that feature events are separately ticketed to festival passes. Eventgoers are encouraged to book their tickets for feature events as soon as possible to avoid missing out.
The Guardian’s Are You Game Show
Byron Theatre: Friday 14 August (6:30pm – 7:30pm)
The Guardian’s Are You Game Show returns for the 2026 Byron Writers Festival, promising a compelling battle of the brains hosted by The Guardian’s culture editor Steph Harmon. For the 2026 iteration of this beloved event, team captains are Lucy Clark and Nour Haydar, with special guest contestants including Luke Bateman, Siang Lu, Louise Milligan and Michael Winkler.
Women Who Win: Antoinette Lattouf
Jonson St Stage: Friday 14 August (7:15pm – 8:15pm)
Acclaimed journalist and human rights activist Antoinette Lattouf and former publisher and festival director Louise Adler, engage in an evening of discussion and celebration, recognising the courage of women in the publishing industry and their stories of perseverance, grit, and integrity in the face of prejudice.
Viking Lives: Ghost Stories
Byron Theatre: Friday 14 August (8:15pm – 9:30pm)
Authors of the best-selling Saga Land, Richard Fidler and Kári Gíslason, join for a live recording of their new podcast. Sit with them as they unpack haunting tales from their sagas, regaling audiences with their own encounters with the supernatural, and ‘consider why Icelanders have so many words for “ghost”.’
Heresies: Richard Flanagan
Byron Theatre: Saturday 15 August (6:00pm – 7:00pm)
Join Booker Prize and Baillie Gifford Prize winning author Richard Flanagan in conversation with ABC Radio National’s Sarah Kanowski, to discuss his latest collection of writing, essays, articles, and speeches. Presented by ABC Conversations, this event will see Kanowski and Flanagan explore the role of the writer in ‘embracing heresy’ through Flanagan’s own latest non-fiction works.
Gravity Let Me Go: Trent Dalton
Jonson St Stage: Saturday 15 August (6:30pm – 7:30pm)
Australia’s #1 bestselling author Trent Dalton returns to the Byron Writers Festival for 2026 with his feature event at the Jonson St Stage. Join him in conversation with Richard Glover for an exploration of love, ambition, family, and truth-telling, centred around the deeply personal Gravity Let Me Go, Dalton’s latest novel which delivers a refreshing mix of crime fiction, mystery, and uniquely Australian gritty magical realism.
Beyond the Lines: Live Poetry
Byron Theatre: Saturday 15 August (7:30pm – 9:00pm)
Presented by Red Room Poetry as a keystone event for Poetry Month 2026, Beyond the Lines sees some of Australia’s most decorated poets, musicians, and slam artists take to the stage, promising a night of rhythm and rhyme.
Beyond the Lines is set to feature live performances and readings from award-winning poets, including Evelyn Araluen, Chilean musician and poet Julio Carrasco, Australian Poetry Slam champion Arantza Garcia Ferrand, and other acclaimed guests including Ender Başkan, Fiona Wright, Damien Becker and more.
Hosted by Gamilaroi poet Luke Patterson, Beyond the Lines is looking to be a fiery, celebratory ending to the 2026 Byron Writers Festival line-up. With so much talent set to grace the stage, this is not an event to be missed.
Tickets available now via the Byron Writers Festival website
For over 30 years, the Byron Writers Festival has provided a vibrant meeting ground for literary voices from around the world, inviting artists from all cultures to unite on the land and waterways of the Bundjalung nation.
With the 2026 festival line-up delivering the same value, enrichment, and cultural relevance that the festival has been renowned for in recent years, the 2026 Byron Writers Festival is definitely not one to miss.
Festival passes and tickets for 2026 feature events are now available for purchase directly through the Byron Writers Festival website or via Humanitix. Be sure to get your tickets, passes, accommodation, and other logistics booked as promptly as possible to avoid missing out on this year’s festival.
Image: Attendees at Byron Writers Festival – photo by Kurt Petersen