Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival
31 October - 2 November 2025
Set against the stunning backdrop of the Blue Mountains, this unique festival brings together the country’s greatest minds and most exciting new talent.
Inspiring readers and writers alike, our packed three-day program celebrates the best of Australia’s literary landscape: joyful, thought-provoking and thrilling opportunities to connect with the written word, and each other.
The main program offers an astounding array of talent in four intimate venues across The Carrington and the Civic Centre, the children’s program brings raucous fun to Katoomba Library, and our workshops at Blue Mountains Cultural Centre offer aspiring writers the chance to hone their craft.
But what really sets our Festival apart are our special events, whether you’re meeting writers in the rainforest at Scenic World, chatting to your favourite author over a beer at Mountain Culture, taking in the spectacular skies with Blue Mountains Stargazing, or cosying up at The Carrington for a few Bedtime Stories. Plus, one of the hottest tickets in town is always the live broadcast of ABC Radio Sydney’s TGIF!
Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival takes place in Katoomba, and is presented by Varuna the National Writers’ House.
80+ speakers
46 events
14 workshops
3 days
1 unmatched location
Our program offers something for everyone, with author talks, one-on-ones, panel discussions, performance, children's events, workshops and more. The Festival is centered around Katoomba’s grand and curious art-deco heritage venue, The Carrington Hotel, with special events at the Baroque Room, Blue Mountains Civic Centre, the Blue Mountains Cultural Centre, Blue Mountains Library, Mountain Culture Brewery and Scenic World.
Day and weekend passes allow you to create your own program, catching household names alongside exciting talent, and discovering events you might have missed in a larger festival program.
Volunteer at the Writers’ Festival
The Blue Mountains Writers’ Festival and Varuna treasure our passionate, capable and loyal team of volunteers. They band together to provide the best possible Festival experience for everyone (and drastically reduce the number of visitors wandering lost between our venues).
There are a variety of roles on offer. If you love what we do and want to help, join our volunteer mailing list and we’ll let you know as soon as the call out for 2025 is under way.
Past Programs
Festival Partners and Sponsors
Our event partners, sponsors and supporters are the backbone upon which our Festival rests. We are grateful to all the wonderful contributors, well-wishers and patrons who help to make our Festival a raging success each year.
