Bristol BookFest 2025: Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451"
April 4 & 5 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Supported by Friends of Rogers Free Library.
Date and time
Location
Colt Andrews Elementary School Friday Linden Place Saturday
Hope Street Bristol, RI 02809Refund Policy
About this event
- Event lasts 1 day 3 hours
Bristol BookFest is a public humanities program in Bristol, Rhode Island, and is supported by the generosity of our 2025 supporting partners, including the Friends of Rogers Free Library, the Arts in Common, CC:S, Rogers Free Library, Roger Williams University, Bank Newport, Bradford-Dimond-Norris House, Bristol Art Museum, Empire Tea and Coffee, Linden Place, and various private donors.
The Friday April 4 Keynote Event with Kelly Link will be held at Colt Andrews School Auditorium, followed by a reception across the street at Rogers Free Library.
The Saturday April 5 Programming will be held at Linden Place Ballroom and Bristol Art Museum.
Frequently asked questions
Ideally, yes – and please come with some good questions for the speakers. But in fact some participants prefer to read or re-read the book after the program, guided by the talks they’ve heard. So it’s up to you – there’s no exam!
Our initial approach was for a two-day event: Friday evening and most of Saturday. It soon became obvious, however, that BookFest should be experienced as more than just one intensive weekend. There is too much to talk about! Read More at bristolbookfest.com/faqs
No, we aim to make these programs as multi-disciplinary and interdisciplinary as possible. That means actors, dancers, musicians, filmmakers, scientists, cartographers, culinary experts – whatever the book that year suggests.
The Friday evening keynote at the Colt Memorial School Auditorium is open to the public free of charge. Saturday’s program in the Linden Place Ballroom costs $40, payable online starting January 1st. Students can attend free of charge (but must register), and we can offer scholarships.
There will be modestly priced box lunches available, bookable in advance, here at Eventbrite. You are also free to bring a lunch or visit downtown Bristol restaurants. Coffee and tea will be available gratis throughout the day.
At present we are not authorized to grant such credits. But we are happy to write a letter acknowledging attendance and describing the program if that would be helpful.
In the case of a translation, this is a good idea. With a book in English, it’s less necessary, though we recommend finding an edition with a good introduction and notes.
Ink Fish Books on Main Street in Warren offers BookFest attendees a 10% discount. Rogers Free Library will have multiple copies for lending, including in some cases audiotapes and graphic novel versions. Ink Fish’s pop-up bookshop during BookFest weekend will offer a range of relevant titles.
The BristolBookFest committee invites suggestions from event attendees, and the committee begins a selection process based on a book's recognition, the body of scholarship surrounding the book and author, contemporary relevance and the availability of suitable speakers, preferably in New England.
We look for distinguished scholars and experts with an accessible, collegiate teaching style to share their knowledge with our general audience of serious readers. Read More at bristolbookfest.com/faqs