Common Questions, Answered!
Creative Clunes presents the return of Clunes Booktown Festival March 23 – 24 2024. The weekend is a celebration of the book filled with author talks, presentations and thought-provoking conversations in the beloved historic Victorian township of Clunes this March.
No. Unlike previous years, entry is free. However you need a ticket for any author talk/panel you wish to attend.
We have wanted to make the festival free for some time as we dont want to exclude anyone from coming and enjoying the free music and childrens activities that we provide.
We are experimenting with a different model. We have always wanted to make the festival free, as we dont want to exclude anyone from coming and enjoying the free music and childrens’ activities that we provide. We can’t promise it will always be a free entry, but we’re proud to offer it this year.
If you’d like to think about other ways to give back to Booktown – we are a registered not-for-profit and accept tax deductable donations to Booktown at the info tent over the Festival Weekend or via our website!
Yes, but…
…if you can you should buy your tickets now. Last year our Saturday night live music event the Tin Shed Show, our workshops and over half of our author talks were completely sold out before the event even began!
Yes.
Author signings for speakers will occur after each talk. These are hosted in the Readings marquee on Fraser Street. You are welcome to bring along books for signing, or to purchase them on site.
Many visitors choose to stay and enjoy both days of the event, and explore our amazing region.
Local B&B and accomodation options traditionally all sell out in Clunes in advance of our event, so book asap!
Within 15 minutes drive of Clunes are the lovely towns of Creswick and Talbot, and beyond that Ballarat, Castlemaine, Daylesford and Hepburn are all popular options once the options in Clunes are booked.
Within 15 minutes drive of Clunes are the lovely towns of Creswick and Talbot, and beyond that Ballarat, Castlemaine, Daylesford, Hepburn and Trentham are all wonderful places to explore.
Check out the Visit Hepburn website for information on regional highlights, events and attractions.
While in previous years we have sometimes offered a discount when purchasing multiple author talks, we have elected for a new structure this year. This new structure has allowed us to remove the site entry fee of $10, but means we cannot offer bulk passes or discount tickets.
Yes.
You are welcome to bring your dog to our event. Dogs are:
- to be kept on a lead at all times inside the event precinct.
- not permitted inside our venues, aside from assistance animals.
- to be removed by the owners if requested by festival volunteers or staff.
This year we are thrilled to be bringing back our booktraders to Fraser Street and across the town in historic buildings.
Over sixty specialist book traders will offer an extraordinary range – new and second-hand, antiquarian and contemporary, rare and popular – covering every imaginable topic and theme.
Our program (to be released on our website soon!) will provide more detail on each book trader.
Unlike previous years, everyone gets into the festival precinct for free this year – and that includes locals, of course.
However, locals will still need tickets for our talks, workshops and the Tin Shed Show.
And, locals should be aware that – while we are not closing Fraser St this year – parking will be massively impacted by the influx of visitors.
You may have difficulty accessing central Clunes by car and we encourage you to plan around this.
We also encourage locals to consider volunteering to help out during the event, for more information click here.
All our amazing local restaurants and cafes will be open, and these will be complimented by food trucks and coffee carts offering a range of cuisines to fill your bellies. YUM!
Yes.
In addition to the regular schedule, extra services are run by VLine over the festival weekend.
Our station is disability accessible with a raised platform and no steps. We offer a free shuttle bus from the Clunes Railway Station to the town centre (a 2 minute drive or 12 minute walk).
As VLine haven’t yet confirmed the extra services as of Feb 2024, check with VLine directly closer to the date for information on the extra services.
There is street parking across the centre of the town. There is also a dedicated carpark at the Clunes Showgrounds. From the showgrounds to the main gate is a 5 minute walk, and we also run a shuttlebus between the train station, showgrounds and gate.
We offer accessibility parking close to our festival entry on Bailey St next to Town Hall.
Yes.
We organise accessibility parking close to our festival entry on Bailey St next to Town Hall. The map in our program (available on the homepage) shows these sites.
Yes.
We organise additional ATMs onsite during the event. We strongly encourage pre-purchase of your Festival Weekend Pass and event tickets. We recommend bringing some cash in case of any network outages or issues on the day.
We can accept card payment at our gates, but the queues are greater for those paying at the gate. Once inside the precinct some of our book traders will take card and some will take cash. All food vendors will accept cards.
