News

Blue Ridge Bookfest shuts down

By Bill Moss, Published: June 22, 2016

Blue Ridge Bookfest, which for eight years celebrated local and nationally known authors and offered readers a chance to meet them and hear about their craft, has died.

Bill Ramsey, a longtime organizer of the event, announced the decision today in "a letter I never wanted to write."

As time went on, he said, attendance at the free event fell, the pool of volunteers dwindled, donor and sponsor funding declined and the cost of bringing in authors as keynote speakers went up. "The financial gap grew each year," he said. The general trend of readers getting their material from the Internet cut down the number interested in going out to hear from authors and buying a hardback.

"A post-event assessment made it clear that the event cannot continue," Ramsey said.

The organization will donate its remaining fund balance of $1,515 to the student creative writing program at BRCC, the host of the bookfest.

"It was a great run of eight years," Ramsey said. "We made many friends had many mountaintop literary experiences along the way. As we move on, we would like to encourage all in the community to support literacy. Speaking for the leadership team, thanks for the memories."