Getting to the festival.

Venues

Spring festival events mostly take place around two vibrant hubs – the Blackwell’s Marquee, next to the Sheldonian Theatre, Bodleian Library and Weston Library, and Worcester College, in Walton Street. There is a ten-minute walk between the two hubs.

The 2021 autumn events take place at the Sheldonian Theatre, Weston Lecture Theatre and Oxford Martin School. There will be no marquee for autumn events. Blackwells will be selling relevant books at all the events, online and in its Broad Street store.

Download the festival map.

Please note: venues for festival events sometimes change after you have purchased your ticket to accommodate the specific requirements of authors or to meet demand for tickets. Please check the website to confirm the venue for your event and always arrive in good time.

Blackwell’s Marquee

The Blackwell’s Marquee sits in the middle of the biggest festival venues – the Bodleian Library, the Weston Library, the Sheldonian Theatre and Oxford Martin School. The marquee is open all day throughout the festival and will house the festival box office and enquiry point, the festival bookstore, and a café. It will also host some events and book-signings. There is also a café with toilets in the main hall of the Weston Library opposite the Sheldonian Theatre.

Worcester College

Worcester College hosts a number of events at this year’s festival. A festival cafe bar will be open in the college’s new Sultan Nazrin Shah Centre.

Other venues

Exeter College, and Lincoln College venues are in Turl Street, a short walk from the Blackwell’s Marquee.

Cohen Quad is on the corner of Walton Street and Worcester Place, a few minutes’ walk north from the entrance to Worcester College. 

St Cross College is in St Giles, a five-minute walk from both Worcester College and the Blackwell’s Marquee.

The Ashmolean Museum is on Beaumont Street, a five-minute walk from both Worcester College and the Blackwell’s Marquee.

Accessibility

All the main festival venues are accessible and many have hearing loops. For full details, visit the relevant venue websites by clicking on the links below.

Sheldonian Theatre

Oxford Martin School

Worcester College

Jesus College

Keble College

Exeter College

Lincoln College

St Cross College

St John’s College

Ashmolean Museum

Museum of Natural History

The Story Museum

Oxford City Council accessibility guide to Oxford

Many festival venues operate a disability equality scheme. This is kept under review, taking into account the views of visitors and others. Comments and suggestions are therefore welcome and may be directed to the disability librarian at the Bodleian Library (for the Divinity School and Weston Library) and the custodian at the Sheldonian Theatre. For other college and university venues please contact the domestic bursar or department administrator.

To ensure the safe evacuation of wheelchair users in case of emergency, it may occasionally be necessary to limit the number of wheelchair users at a given event. Evac-chairs are provided and duty volunteers trained to assist. A safety briefing for all festival-goers is provided at the start of each event.

Arriving

By train

Oxford is well served from all areas of the country. Chiltern Railways’ service from London Marylebone and High Wycombe terminates in the centre of Oxford. Worcester College is a ten-minute walk from the central station and the Blackwell’s Marquee a 20-minute walk. There is a taxi rank at the station.

By coach

There is a fast and frequent coach service to Oxford from London, the Oxford Tube, with several departures every hour. In Oxford, festival-goers can alight at High Street stops which are within a few minutes’ walk of festival venues. The coach station at Gloucester Green is a five-minute walk from Worcester College and a ten-minute walk from the Blackwell’s Marquee.

By car

Street parking is extremely limited. There are car parks at the Westgate Shopping Centre in Oxpens, at Gloucester Street and in Worcester Street, all within 10 minutes’ walk of festival venues. Oxford is well served by a regular park-and-ride bus service from several points at the city perimeter.

Blue badge parking

For events at the Bodleian Library, Weston Library, Lincoln College, Oxford Martin School and the Sheldonian Theatre, disabled badge holder designated parking is available in Broad Street.Designated parking is available in Beaumont Street for Worcester College, Cohen Quad and the Ashmolean, and in St Giles for St Cross College.