As the Amelia Island Book Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary, some of our readers may remember those early celebrations of literacy with fondness. In those days the Festival was more localized and did not include the Authors in Schools program. As we all know, change is inevitable and not always a bad thing. With those thoughts in mind, the Festival Board of Directors decided last year that to better serve our purposes, the time was right for changes to our yearly schedule.
In an effort to promote a year-long celebration of literacy, our annual Kick-off Luncheon, normally held on the first day of our February festival, will now take place in the fall.
Now known as the Annual Amelia Island Book Festival Luncheon, our event will take place this year on October 21, 2021, at the soon-to-open, Courtyard Amelia Island on Atlantic Ave. A change from our previous locations, the hotel will allow us to add a few more seats and additional parking.
Soon we will announce our keynote speaker who will follow in the footsteps of recent New York Times best selling authors such as David Baldacci, Steve Berry, Adrianna Trigiani, John Grisham, Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella, all of whom have entertained and intrigued us with their wit and charm. Stay tuned for updates and ticket information here, as well as via our Newsletter and social media channels.
Our 20th year, while challenging, has given our Board an opportunity to fine-tune our goals, and we believe our changes will be seen as improvements. As we continue to celebrate our 20 years of enriching lives with literacy, we hope our followers will join us in our endeavors.
Our next event is on April 14, A Virtual Author Presentation with Steve Berry. We look forward to seeing you there!
Barbara Heggenstaller
Annual Amelia Island Book Festival Luncheon Chair
