Featherston Booktown

Featherston Booktown hosts and organises literary events throughout the year with the help of many volunteers, local bookshops, and generous funders and supporters. The annual Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival is the main event, held during the second week of May each year. Featherston Booktown has put on festivals since 2015, and has been a member of the International Organisation of Booktowns (IOB) since 2018. We’ve recently won the rights to host the next IOB global conference in 2024.

The Trust House funding has enabled Featherston Booktown to grow into an internationally recognised entity that attracts top literary talent and audiences alike. Through the support of the Trust, we have expanded our reach into the community and schools with our Young Readers Programme in Schools and the Children’s Book Voucher Project, in which a record-breaking 2,500 book vouchers were given to local South Wairarapa primary school-aged children.

Featherston Booktown has been a tremendous boon to the region through its festival and events throughout the year. Renowned author and Featherston resident Joy Cowley says, “Featherston Booktown has given Featherston a unique character and an opportunity to re-generate the shops and re-build the town’s confidence and mojo. Now visitors and locals are talking about and coming to Featherston/Paetūmōkai because they love books and creativity and the warm community they find there.”