With the holiday season over and temperatures hovering far below zero, many have gone into social hibernation – waiting patiently for festivals and events promised for the spring.
For some this seasonal limbo is spent curled up under the blankets with a good book (or five) – a low-cost way to escape the snow outside.
This month, organizers behind the ever-growing Elora Writer’s Festival are hoping to coax winter book lovers out of their homes for a social event dedicated to discussing all things literature, this time with a little added incentive: beer.
The inaugural “books and beer” event will take place at the Drew House in Elora on Jan. 22 from 7 to 9pm. The evening will feature a reading by Canadian author Brad Smith and beer will be provided by Wellington Brewery.
Event organizer Dave Beynon says he is very excited to have Smith return to Elora after his appearance at the writer’s festival last summer.
“He writes crime drama, but it has a kind of rural-noir feel to it – they’re tough crime dramas, but they take place in the country – he’s a really neat guy,” said Beynon.
“We asked him if he’d be interested in coming to an event where he would read from one of his books and we’d have beer available, he said, ‘you had me at beer’.”
Admission to the event is $15 and includes, beer, soft drinks and snacks. Beynon says the evening will be relatively laid back and more of a social opportunity to break up the seasonal monotony.
“We’re having it in January because we’ve just come through Christmas and other stuff is off in the future,” he explained.
“January is a kind of month where there’s nothing going on, so we thought it might be nice to have an event people can go to, to get out of the house and be social.”
The five authors currently confirmed for the writer’s festival in the spring will also be announced at the event.
“Our festival itself is way off in May, but we’d like to plant some seeds to make people aware of the writer’s festival,” he says.
“It’s shaping up to be a really good festival – it looks like there’s a little something for everyone, which is what we like to do, we like to ensure that there’s a good mix of different genres out there.”
Beynon says if enough tickets are sold, the event will also be a fundraiser – but since it is their first time around, they are just hoping to break even.
“With the ticket price, we didn’t want anything too expensive because then you’re scaring people away. We’ll be happy if we break even, but if it is a fundraiser all of that money will go back toward the festival,” he said.
The books and beer event will be held at the Drew House, 120 Mill St. E., in Elora, from 7 to 9pm. Tickets are $15 and are available at Roxanne’s Reflections in Fergus.
Some tickets may be available at the door, but interested participants are encouraged to buy in advance due to limited venue capacity. For more information visit www.elorawritersfestival.blogspot.ca.
