FESTIVAL INFO
is Charleston’s Young Adult and Middle Grade Book Festival. The first YALLFest took place in 2011, and was co-founded by Blue Bicycle Books owner Jonathan Sanchez and authors Margaret Stohl and Kami Garcia. It has grown into one of the nation’s most beloved book festivals, spawning a west-coast sister festival in YALLWEST, and it is one of the largest kidlit festivals in the country.
YALLFest
How do I attend YALLFest?
There is no general admission ticket to get into YALLFest. Panels (over 25 of them!) do not require any sort of ticket to enter. Some signings may be ticketed in advance to help control capacity and crowds, this information will be publicized along with the full schedule announcement. Our three headliner events (two keynotes and our closing Smackdown) will have a paid ticket.
Just show up!
Wait…What’s a “Smackdown”?
Do you like having fun???
The Smackdown is our annual closing event of the festival. A host leads a crew of fearless (…mostly fearless) authors through several rounds of chaotic games, all for the audience’s enjoyment! It’s a great way to wrap up an exciting day and a can’t miss event!
Can you break down what a day looks like at YALLFest?
Absolutely, let’s separate out all the things you might want to do!
Several authors talking about a topic, led by an author who serves as moderator. Most panels will have a Q&A portion at the end. All 25+ panels are free and require no ticket to enter. A great way to hear authors you already love talk, and to discover your new favorites!
PANELS
SIGNINGS
All lineup authors will have a signing on Saturday, and some will have an additional signing on Friday! Some signings may be ticketed in advance to help control capacity, and with very few exceptions over the years all signings are free.
HEADLINER EVENTS
Our two keynotes feature two-three authors chatting—the Opening Keynote is the first event of the entire day Saturday. Our closing Smackdown ends the day with chaotic happenings on the stage! These three events require a paid ticket.
These events are put on by our generous sponsoring publishers and may feature authors and other special guests, giveaways, games and more! Sponsor events may require a free ticket to control capacity.
SPONSOR EVENTS
The Sponsor Village will feature many of our sponsoring publisher booths doing giveaways and chatting about their titles with attendees. The Sponsor Village is only operational on Saturday.
SPONSOR VILLAGE
YALLCRAWL
Our Friday afternoon signing extravaganza! Select authors will have a bonus Friday signing at one of our YALLCRAWL business partners, up and down King Street. Some signings may be ticketed in advance to help control capacity, and with very few exceptions all signings are free.
Books will be available for purchase Friday and Saturday through Blue Bicycle Books. (Books from home are permitted.) Our YALLFest merch tent will be open Friday and Saturday for you to get all your new favorite shirts, stickers, and more!