March 2021: Festival update

Update for 2020 ticketholders on credits and future events

Dear festival friend

I cannot thank you enough for your continuing patience and understanding following the postponement of the 2020 Oxford Literary Festival. In particular, the generous response of all those who donated their 2020 ticket prices was deeply appreciated.

I am writing to update you on the situation for future events and how that affects you as a 2020 ticketholder. I am pleased to say that, thanks to the generosity of our sponsors, partners, and donors, we are planning to return in October this year for a series of events that will lead up to a new festival between Friday March 25 and Sunday April 3, 2022.

I hope that those of you who have applied for credits will use them to attend events in the autumn and next spring. We remain open to applications for credit from 2020 ticketholders.

Please kindly see the information below updating on events and explaining how you can claim a credit or donate your tickets to the festival.

We expect to post future events on our website in September. You can sign up here to receive email alerts about future festival events if you are not already signed up.

With best wishes

Sally Dunsmore
Festival director

Donations
We have been overwhelmed by your messages of support and offers to donate tickets. We are extremely grateful for your support, which will help to keep the festival alive.

You can still donate your ticket by simply allowing it to lapse. Your support means a great deal to the festival, and we thank you in advance.

Using and applying for credits
Many of you have applied for credits, and we hope you will use them to attend events in the autumn and at future festivals. The pandemic has impacted us longer than we originally expected. For that reason, we will extend the validity of all credits a further year until September 2024. You will be able to use them at the next three festivals.

Applications for credits will remain open for the foreseeable future. If you would like a credit for future events, please send an email to credit@oxfordliteraryfestival.org and specify:

the amount you are claiming in credit

the relevant booking references on your 2020 tickets

Future events
Most of the future events will be new events. The passage of time means we are unlikely to reschedule many 2020 events. We have, however, managed to reschedule the Chris Packham, Alexander McCall Smith and Iain McGregor events. Tickets held for those events remain valid, and we will inform ticketholders of the new dates shortly.

Refunds
The festival’s difficult financial position has not changed since March 2020. Regrettably, we have no option to refund customers. The festival can only offer credits for future events. The only other choice for the festival, as a small registered charity, would be to go into administration.