Support the Bay Area Book Festival

The Bay Area Book Festival returns to downtown Berkeley June 4–6, 2027, for its 13th annual celebration of books, ideas, and community.

The 2027 theme is Reconstruction. Through conversations, readings, workshops, and public gatherings, the Festival will bring together writers, poets, historians, journalists, artists, organizers, scholars, and readers to explore how people are building new forms of care, accountability, cultural life, and civic participation.

In 2026, the Festival welcomed more than 400 authors across 123 panels and events, with programming that was 96% free and open to the public. The Bookworm Block Party featured more than 150 independent publishers, booksellers, artists, and community organizations.

Why Your Gift Matters

The Bay Area Book Festival is a nonprofit organization. Your support helps keep literary programs free or low-cost and accessible to people across the Bay Area.

Gifts support author programs, outdoor stages, venues, accessibility services, event equipment, signage, staffing, volunteers, youth and family activities, independent publishers and booksellers, and year-round events.

Every gift makes you a Friend of the Festival.

You can make a one-time donation or become a Monthly Friend. A recurring gift of any amount, whether $5, $10, $25, or more, provides dependable support that allows the Festival to plan ambitiously and welcome everyone.

We are raising $20,000 by June 4, 2027, the Festival’s opening day.

Friends of the Festival

When you give, you join a community of readers, writers, and neighbors who believe that books and ideas should be available to everyone.

All donors are Friends of the Festival. We are grateful for gifts of every size.

Monthly Friends

Become a Monthly Friend with a recurring gift at any level.

$5/month helps build a strong community of Festival supporters.
$10/month helps sustain free public programming.
$25/month helps bring writers and readers together throughout the year.
$50/month or more helps strengthen the Festival’s future.

Monthly Friends receive our gratitude, Festival news, and opportunities to stay connected to the work their support makes possible.

Festival Passes

Gifts of $250 or more include a Festival Pass with special access to designated ticketed events and Festival gatherings.

All benefits apply during the 2027 calendar year. Ticketed events and VIP experiences are subject to capacity and availability. Advance registration may be required.

Chapbook Friend, $250+

Two tickets to one designated ticketed Festival headliner event.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to purchase additional ticketed-event tickets and register for Writers’ Day workshops.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Anthology Friend, $500+

A Festival Pass for two, providing admission for you and one guest to all designated ticketed Festival headliner events.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Novella Friend, $1,000+

A Festival Pass for two, providing admission and reserved seating for you and one guest at all designated ticketed Festival headliner events.
Access for you and one guest to the VIP Lounge at The Freight during ticketed headliner events held there.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Novel Friend, $2,500+

A Festival Pass for two, providing admission and reserved seating for you and one guest at all designated ticketed Festival headliner events.
Access for you and one guest to the VIP Lounge at The Freight during ticketed headliner events held there.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Season Passes

Silver Season Pass, $5,000+

A Season Pass for two, providing admission and reserved seating for you and one guest at all designated ticketed Festival headliner events and eligible year-round BABF events.
Access for you and one guest to the VIP Lounge at The Freight during ticketed headliner events held there.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Gold Season Pass, $10,000+

A Season Pass for two, providing admission and reserved seating for you and one guest at all designated ticketed Festival headliner events and eligible year-round BABF events.
Access for you and one guest to the VIP Lounge at The Freight during ticketed headliner events held there.
Two tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

Platinum Season Pass, $20,000+

A Season Pass for four, providing admission and reserved seating for you and up to three guests at all designated ticketed Festival headliner events and eligible year-round BABF events.
Access for you and up to three guests to the VIP Lounge at The Freight during ticketed headliner events held there.
Four tickets to the Festival kickoff Authors’ Party.
Early access to ticketed-event tickets and Writers’ Day workshop registration.
Bay Area Book Festival tote.

For gifts of $5,000 or more, please contact Executive Director J. K. Fowler at jk@baybookfest.org to discuss Season Pass opportunities and major support for the Festival.

What’s Ahead

The 2027 Festival will feature fiction, nonfiction, poetry, history, journalism, comics, hybrid work, and conversations across disciplines. Planned programming includes:

Conversations on democracy, racial justice, organizing, public health, climate, technology, and cultural life.
A translation stage at The Magnes.
Indie Press Alley, featuring independent publishers and literary magazines.
Health in Community programs.
Family Day activities.
Chill Zone programming in Martin Luther King Jr. Civic Center Park.
Writers’ Day workshops for writers at every stage of their practice.
The Merritt Dialogues speaker series.
Year-round events throughout the Bay Area.
Virtual programs with international authors.

Specific speakers, venues, event formats, and ticketed programs will be announced as they are confirmed.

Our Mission

The Bay Area Book Festival brings readers, writers, and changemakers together through the annual Festival, the Merritt Dialogues, and the Affinity Lit Collectives.

We uplift a full range of literary voices, encourage reading and critical thinking, build relationships across communities, and create space for urgent conversations and emerging leaders in literature.

Thank you for being a Friend of the Bay Area Book Festival.

BABF 2027: Reconstruction

Help keep the Bay Area’s literary commons free, public, and thriving.

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Team Members