Out of concern for the safety of our community, we are significantly scaling back the in-person portion of this year’s Texas Book Festival and greatly increasing the number of virtual sessions that people can participate from anywhere.

Symphony Square

We love hosting our huge, rambling, open Festival at the State Capitol but, after much deliberation, we have decided it is safest to host the in-person portion of the Festival in venues where we can better monitor attendee numbers and enact proper safety guidelines.

We are thrilled to partner with Waterloo Greenway’s Symphony Square and the Austin Public Library on the Festival this year. Texas Book Festival will host children’s storytime programming at Symphony Square’s outdoor amphitheater on Saturday, October 30, and adult programming at APL’s Central Library on Sunday, October 31, for a limited number of in-person sessions.

Austin Central Library

All in-person sessions are free, but please note that capacity will be limited at our in-person venues. Attendees must RSVP for each session on a first-come, first-served basis in advance of the Festival. RSVPs will be available online once the schedule is announced in the first week of October. There are no attendance limits for our robust lineup of virtual sessions featuring authors for all ages and genres. We will be offering a small number of ticketed virtual events with the featured author’s book included in the ticket price.

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Revised Hybrid Festival Dates

Virtual

Oct. 23 – 24:

*Children’s programming

*Texas Teen Book Festival: Young Adult Authors and panels

Oct. 25 – 31:  Adult fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and cooking

In-Person

Oct. 30: 

*Read Me A Story children’s picture book authors at Symphony Square 

*Lit Crawl at Symphony Square

Oct. 31: Adult programming at Austin Central Library

The full author lineup will be announced on September 22 and the schedule will be announced the first week of October.

Every year, the annual Texas Book Festival features a wide array of the year’s best books and this year is no different. We are so passionate about this year’s authors and can’t wait for you to meet them, whether in person or online.

The Festival continues to be free, thanks to our generous sponsors and volunteers. The 2021 Texas Book Festival is co-presented by H-E-B and AT&T. Other major sponsors include Brigid Cockrum and Family, Kirkus Reviews, Tocker Foundation, Tapestry Foundation, Texas Monthly, Buena Vista Foundation, Still Water Foundation, St. David’s HealthCare, Central Market, Austin American-Statesman, Pentagram, Jordan Foster Construction, Loewy Law Firm, and BookPeople. Thank you to all our sponsors, donors, and partners!