At the orientation you can meet other volunteers, help yourself to drinks and snacks, browse for some free books and magazines, and enter a draw for a prize basket with local goods and gift certificates for Sunshine Coast businesses. Folks are welcome to stay for the whole two hours, or just ten minutes!

• Wednesday, May 27 | 4:00 – 6:00 p.m.

LOCATION: Rockwood Lodge Living Room and Dining Room, Rockwood Centre, Sechelt.

Attending a volunteer orientation meeting is not mandatory if you want to volunteer this year, but if you can come, please drop by. You are also welcome to fill out the volunteer contact form on our website.

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Tickets are still on sale! Don’t miss your chance to hear from others in our incredible lineup of writers this year. You can buy tickets by calling 604-885-9631 or 1-800-565-9631 (toll-free), visiting our office in person (5511 Shorncliffe Avenue in Sechelt), or online via Tickit. You can find more information about the Festival and the remaining events by perusing the 2025 Festival Program.

We have three sold out shows (Event #1, Event #14, and Event #15), but we still have tickets available for all other regular events.

It’s raining, it’s pouring!

This weekend is going to be a rainy one! Come prepared with jackets and umbrellas. The Pavilion is an open-air site, so even though it is covered – it can still get chilly during the events.

Hungry during your event?

We are pleased to announce the return of the Festival Café! We will have fresh and local flexitarian options including a gluten-free/vegan soup, an assortment of sandwiches, and a variety of sweets. Located near the book tent, the Café will be open daily from 8:30 am – 6:30 pm.

Once you’ve got your lunch, come check out the Beverage Booth! Located between Rockwood Lodge and the Book Tent, there are a variety of non-alcoholic and alcoholic refreshments for sale. This year, you can find Sunshine Coast beer from Persephone Brewing and local cider from Banditry Cider.

Locally owned and operated, Strait Coffee will also be serving their delicious coffee and tea on site from Friday-Sunday! Their both will be located in front of Rockwood Lodge

Limited Parking on Saturday

If you are coming to the festival on Saturday morning or early afternoon (on August 16), please leave lots of time to find parking, or carpool, or travel by public transit. The Sechelt Farmer’s and Artisan Market is set up at the end of Cowrie Street until 2:30 p.m. on Saturdays, and it is very busy!

Shorncliffe Avenue will still be open for drop-offs/pick-ups, and we do have some limited parking for attendees with disabilities.

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Event A – Fiction Workshop: Creating Believable Characters with Caroline Adderson

The aim of this session is to people your stories and novels with characters who might walk right off the page. We will cover the meaning of names, explore techniques to deepen characterization, examine the hidden motivations of your fictional creations, trace their character arcs, and make sure that when they speak (and they will!) effective dialogue comes out of their mouths. Come prepared to write, read and share.

Saturday, August 16, 2025 | 11:30 am– 1:00 pm
Location: Rockwood Lodge Art Space (space is limited)
Workshop cost: $25.00

Event B – Festival of the Written Arts Coffee Hour

Sunday, August 17, 2025 | 11:30 am – 12:30 pm
Location: Festival site, beside the Book Tent
Cost: Free

Enjoy complimentary coffee and tea and live music while you share stories, talk books and mingle with other festival goers. No registration required!

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ONLINE SALES

We are selling tickets online through Tickit, a 100% independently owned and operated company based in British Columbia. Before June 2 you will be able to find links to tickets for individual events on the Meet the 2025 Writers page on our website, or visit our storefront on Tickit. Please note there is a surcharge on tickets purchased online, though GST is already included in all of our prices. Ticket links will not be live until June 2 at 8:30 a.m. PDT.

TELEPHONE SALES

We have reserved a limited ticket inventory for telephone sales—please call us at 604-885-9631 or 1-800-565-9631 (toll-free). We will have two lines open and two people receiving orders. Please have your order and credit card ready when you call in so that we can take care of you as quickly as possible and move on to the next caller. If you do not get through, please leave a message with your name and phone number and we will try to return calls in the order we receive them. The busiest time will be the morning of Monday, June 2, but we will be available all week, taking calls and processing orders.

IN-PERSON SALES

In-person sales will be available as of Tuesday, June 3. Our office hours will be Monday to Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. The office is located at 5511 Shorncliffe Avenue in Sechelt, at the lower entrance to Rockwood Centre.

You can download a digital copy of the festival brochure to see a full schedule of events:

A few reminders about Festival tickets …

• There are no refunds unless an event is cancelled. A $5 fee is charged for ticket exchanges (subject to availability).
• Pavilion seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Seats are not assigned.
• If you order online, we will be able to scan digital tickets at the door, so there is no need to print out tickets to individual events (unless you want to!).
• If you are buying a festival pass (either a full festival pass or day passes) you will need to pick up a physical festival pass at our box office when you arrive on site.
• We will keep waiting lists, so if an event sells out before you are able to purchase tickets, please call the office at 604-885-9631 or email summerintern(at)writersfestival.ca and ask to be put on a waiting list.

ACCESSIBILITY

• A limited number of parking spots for people with physical disabilities are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
• The Festival Pavilion, our venue, is fully accessible. If you have special seating needs please call the office prior to August 14 so we can help prepare for your visit.
• We ask that those who have requested accessibility assistance or seats arrive at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the event.
• Real-time captioning for Events #1-20 will be available.

Questions? Please phone the Festival of the Written Arts office at 1-800-565-9631.

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Bring your questions about specific programs, writing grant applications, and BC Arts Council’s funding process and priorities.

Book in advance by emailing mi***************@****bc.ca before Thursday, August 15. After this date, drop by the Rockwood Lodge front porch during festival hours to sign up on the form provided.

Michelle Benjamin manages literary programs at the BC Arts Council, including programs for creative writers, book and magazine publishers, and early career development.

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Subscribers to the 2024 Festival of the Written Arts will have access to ticket sales starting Monday, May 27 at 9:00 am, as well as a 10% discount on all tickets and festival passes. *

Subscribers and the general public will be able to order tickets online (links will be available on our website) and by phone at 604-885-9631 and toll-free at 1-800-565-9631, starting on the dates above. As of June 4, you will also be able to purchase tickets by visiting our festival office at 5511 Shorncliffe Avenue in Sechelt, BC.

To purchase a subscription to the 2024 festival, please visit the link below.

* For early access to 2024 ticket sales, you must order your subscription by May 20, 2024. The 10% discount will be available to subscribers until ticket sales for each event have closed, but discounts will not be given retroactively.

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We’ve already heard presentations from Adriana Barton and Simon Paradis; Tamar Glouberman and Hilary Peach with Kate Braid; Carrie Mac; John Vaillant; JD  Derbyshire; Corinna Chong and Andrea Routley with Megan Cole; Angela Sterritt and Dionne Paul; and Bob McDonald. You can catch a few highlights on the Festival 2023 Day One podcast, which has just been released. Special thanks to Board Member Sean Eckford for creating working hard to capture some of the festival experience so we can share it with others.

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While we hope you will attend, please contact the festival office at (604) 885-9631 or su**********@*************al.ca if you wish to receive a refund instead.

Festival bookseller, Talewind Books, is one of the first booksellers in Canada to have copies of Joshua’s new book, Making Love with the Land, and it will be on sale–along with a selection of Joshua’s other books–in the book tent for the duration of the festival. Those who purchase one of Joshua’s books at the book tent can request a signed book plate which will be mailed after the festival. Thank you for your understanding.

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