Open Book Festival at The Fugard Theatre is an annual literary festival, the first of which happened in 2011. Dates for Open Book 2019 are 4 – 8 September. The hubs will once again be the Fugard Theatre, The District 6 Museum Homecoming Centre and much-loved indie bookshop, The Book Lounge.

When Mervyn Sloman and Ben Williams started talking about creating a festival, they had in mind around 60 literary events over 5 days featuring about 15 top international as well as some of the best South Africans writing today. Due to the incredible support Open Book received, that quickly grew into a festival that now includes over 100 events, featuring over 100 authors.

There are four major elements to the Open Book vision.

(1) A truly international festival that attracts top writers and an audience from around the world.

(2) A fantastic showcase of the best of South African writing.

(3) Making a significant and sustainable contribution to our future by building a love of reading and books among the youth of Cape Town.

(4) Drawing representative audiences to all Open Book events.