General
Join us Friday morning in the Atheneum Garden, where we host story time readings and activities, and even programming in multiple languages. Sunday is Father's Day and we hope you will bring Dad to the Festival and make it a family affair.
We ask everyone intending to attend the Festival to register via the link on our Tickets and Events page. Registration is free and does not obligate you to attend, but it will give us a means of contacting you with any changes in Festival status or important updates.
For paid events please purchase tickets well in advance; many events sell out quite early and attendance is limited.
You do not need to obtain a ticket for a free event. However, please be aware that these events may become crowded or even reach capacity. Please show up early if you want to be sure to get a good seat.
Please go to our support page to volunteer for our festival. Without our trusty volunteers we could not keep our programming free.
Nantucket Book Festival is proud to provide most of our programs (75%+!) free of charge! With the exception of a few lunches, breakfasts, and special events, we keep our programs free to the public. These free events are supported by our amazing network of festival donors, sponsors and volunteers. To donate to our efforts please click here.
For more information on the ticketed events, click here.
Most of our events are within walking distance of one another in the heart of historic Nantucket.
Nantucket Atheneum Great Hall/Nantucket Atheneum Garden, 1 India St
Nantucket Hotel, 77 Easton St
Nantucket United Methodist Church, 2 Centre St
Great Harbor Yacht Club, 96 Washington St
Unitarian Meeting House, 11 Orange St
Brant Point Grill at the White Elephant, 50 Easton St
White Elephant Village Ballroom, 19 N. Water St
Nantucket Whaling Museum, 13 Broad St
Chicken Box, 16 Dave St
Cisco Brewers, 5 Bartlett Farm Rd
Cisco Brewers has a shuttle from town to the brewery and back.
Pick it up from Visitors Services, 25 Federal Street; or, taxis are available for hire.
Nantucket Book Partners will be on hand to sell selections from each author. You are also welcome to bring a book that you already own. Authors usually love to sign books if there is time, please keep in mind that if lines are long we may have to limit the number of books they can sign.
Travel
Despite the fact that Nantucket Island is off the coast of Cape Cod, there are many ways to get here.
To get here by boat please visit Hy-Line Cruises or the Steamship Authority for schedules and options. There are both slow leisurely boats (about 2 and 1/4 hours) or fast ferries (1 hour). There is something very special about passing by Brant Point and arriving into the harbor by boat. Both boats dock conveniently within the town.
The SeaStreak ferry offers seasonal service between NYC / New Bedford and Nantucket.
Flying to Nantucket is another option. Cape Air provides many options from Hyannis (15 minutes), Boston (45 minutes) and other regional airports. During the busier season flights are available via Jet Blue Airways, United AIrlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines.
And getting to Hyannis to meet a boat or ferry is no problem with the CapeFLYER, a seasonal weekend service from South Station to Hyannis.
The Nantucket Book Festival Host Hotel is the White Elephant, conveniently located walking distance to town.
For more options including local bed and breakfasts please go to the Nantucket Chamber of Commerce or Nantucket.net. Swains Travel would be delighted to assist in making reservations for your accommodations for the Book Festival weekend, as they work with many of Nantucket’s B&B, Inns and Luxury Hotels; call 508-228-3201 or email agent @swainstravel.com.