Adelaide Writers Plan Guerrilla Festival After Boycott

When Adelaide's beloved Writers' Week got canceled, the city's literary community refused to let their festival season go dark.

Writers SA and local publisher Pink Shorts Press spent the last week coordinating a replacement literary festival. Now Adelaide City Council will vote Monday on providing financial support and venues, including the historic Adelaide Town Hall.

The original event was supposed to run from February 28 to March 5. It drew 160,000 people in 2025 and holds the title of Australia's largest literary festival.

"There's a lot of heartbreak among local authors," said Margot Lloyd, co-director of Pink Shorts Press. "Adelaide Writers' Week is so important for local writers. The book sales are really strong, and being able to say you've been part of it matters."

But heartbreak quickly turned into action. Lloyd said multiple groups had the same idea at the same time.

"There was a real outpouring of support from people who wanted to support authors whose events had been cancelled," she explained. "There are so many people who were planning to travel to Adelaide. So many authors already had the time booked in their schedules."

The Ripple Effect

The grassroots response extends beyond just saving a festival. Local businesses were counting on the economic boost from tens of thousands of visitors.

Councillor Keiran Snape, who proposed the support motion, sees it as the city's responsibility. "Adelaide's got a reputation as a festival city. It's up to us now to step in, fill that cultural void and provide economic relief for the businesses that were expecting this event."

The biggest challenge is time. Organizing a major festival in six weeks is "incredibly tight," Lloyd admits. Finding venues during Adelaide's busy festival season will be critical, since most spaces book months ahead.

Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith expressed skepticism about the timeline. "We are not talking about a family barbecue, but an event attempting to attract tens of thousands of people," she said. Still, she confirmed she'll attend Monday's meeting "with an open mind."

Snape acknowledges the alternative festival will naturally be smaller than the original. "It's a guerrilla event," he said. "It's trying to plug that hole."

At least seven councillors are expected at Monday's special meeting, enough for a quorum to make decisions on funding and venue access.

For Lloyd and the writing community, it's about more than just one event: it's about showing up for authors and proving that Adelaide's literary spirit can't be canceled.