The time has finally come to start registering for the big schedule of events the Saskatchewan Festival of Words has lined up for this year’s literary extravaganza, and things are looking a little different this year.
Registration for the annual Festival of Words opened on June 1, with potential attendees welcome to sign up for the 25th-anniversary event on July 15-18.
This year’s festival will be hosted virtually on its own dedicated website, which will be available to registered attendees beginning on July 1. As all events are being hosted online and streamed virtually, organizers decided that this year’s pricing will look a little different.
All events are available on a pay-what-you-can scale, in order to keep the festival accessible but still viable for the future. Suggested prices have been attached to the passes, but potential attendees are encouraged to choose their own number if it's not in their budget.
“We don't want to prohibit people from attending because they don’t have the funds, so it’s whatever you can afford,” said operations manager Amanda Farnel in an earlier interview with the Moose Jaw Express. “As long as you attend the festival and enjoy it and share it with other people, we’re happy.”
Festival passes are once again available, offering access to all of the features on the festival website as well as all live events taking place over the weekend. The suggested price for a full pass is $50, which is much lower than previous in-person iterations of the event.
The only exception is the workshops, which must be purchased separately from regular festival passes. Registration is also available online for any of the three workshop sessions, suggest at $10 each.
For those purchasing a festival pass who are local, registration will also be available to attend any of the live events in-person — sort of.
Organizers have been cleared to welcome a small audience to the Mae Wilson Theatre where they will be showing the virtual events on the big screen. All public health restrictions will be adhered to, including capacity limits.
The full schedule of events and featured guests is currently available online at festivalofwords.com, which is also where registration details can be found.
