A book festival is an opportunity for authors and book lovers to join together in a festive environment. At the AJC Decatur Book Festival, you can mingle with your favorite authors, discover new ones, or pick up that book you have been dying to read. For children, a book festival is a great place to develop a love for reading.
A lot. Every book festival is a little different, but at most festivals you can expect:
The DBF is open to the public.
The DBF and all of its events are free to the public.
We are a downtown event. There's plenty of parking, and all downtown spaces require payment. Here's a link to a guide for public parking in our City.
All stages are in the downtown area in venues indoors and outside. All are within walking distance of each other. No stage is more than a seven minute walk from the Historic DeKalb Courthouse, the center of the festival. Most are within a four minute walk from the Historic DeKalb Courthouse. Click here to see the venue map
Yes, all stages are ADA compliant.
Based on previous years, we expect about 80,000 individuals to attend the DBF over the weekend.
There are several ways to be involved in the DBF. We hold the AJC Decatur Book Festival Street Fair with 150 booths, food and drink, music and storytelling.
Also, we have an Emerging Writers Pavilion, targeted to the self-published author but often attractive to writers from small presses. The booths and the Emerging Writers Pavilion require an application and participation fees.
We have several featured author stages. The presenters on these stages are invited by our programming committee and must be from traditional publishing houses. Visit our Authors page to express interest in presenting.
We have authors and books from all genres. No genre has ever been specifically excluded from the DBF.
The deadline to apply for the Emerging Writers Pavilion is July 31, 2017 or when all of the space is exhausted. Exhibit space is typically sold out by late July or early August. For consideration as a presenter on our featured stages, please submit your press information or proposal by May 1, 2017.
Yes! In fact we will be happy to arrange a brief reading and a signing for you if you participate as an Emerging Writer. Also, if you prefer to rent a booth, of course you may sign and sell your books there.
The costs for renting a booth or for participating at the Emerging Writers Pavilion are explained in their respective applications.
For general questions not answered here, please visit our contact page.
The Atlanta area — the economic and cultural center of the Southeast — has long needed and greatly deserves a successful, viable book festival. And no part of Atlanta offers a better cross-section of book lovers and experienced festival organizers than Decatur. Only four square miles in size, Decatur is home to history (older than the city of Atlanta), academia (Emory and Agnes Scott Universities), and a long-standing appreciation for arts and books (the Decatur Arts Festival, the Georgia Center for the Book).
With the cultural perks of a university town (local book clubs, art galleries, and music) and access to the resources of a major city (press outlets, public transportation), Decatur is the perfect setting for the vibrant book festival Atlanta so desires.
Another reason Decatur was chosen to host the DBF is its proven track record for hosting fun, successful, and well-attended events. Drawing over 80,000 attendees each Labor Day Weekend, the AJC Decatur Book Festival proves year after year that downtown Decatur is one of the best venues in greater metropolitan Atlanta for family-friendly events.
The AJC Decatur Book Festival offers the Decatur Writers Studio: a learning and working resource for writers in the Atlanta area.
Click here to see a full list of past presenting authors at the AJC Decatur Book Festival.
The AJC Decatur Book Festival is the largest independent book festival in the country—but that's not all we do!
The organization behind the festival promotes a year-round literary community by hosting a series of fundraising and literary events.
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