Thousands flood Clunes for Booktown | Photos

The two-day festival has become Clunes’ most iconic event, regularly drawing crowds of more than 18,000 people.   The 2017 incarnation featured speakers such as renowned feminist writer Clementine Ford, famed Australian author Kate Grenville as well as former Deputy Prime Minister Tim Fisher.  

Booktown chief executive Richard Mackay-Scollay said the event staff had focused on trying to keep attendance numbers at a sustainable level while giving visitors a reason to stay for the entire weekend. 

“Of our colleagues in the International Organisation (of Book Towns) we are unique in that we present a whole street of book traders and a whole program of author talks and panel discussions,” Mr Mackay-Scollay said.  “What we’ve tried to do this weekend is have authors who are here for a talk, then a panel discussion and then for the literary lunch.” 

Since its inception in 2006 the festival has helped to put Clunes on the map, with the population growing from about 900 to 2200. 

In 2018 the event will play host to the International Organisation of Book Towns conference, with members from across Europe and Asia due to attend.  

Among the many writers who took to the stage over the weekend was environmental author David Holmgren, who was speaking about his upcoming release 'RetroSuburbia: a downshifter’s guide to a resilient future’.  

The author and permaculture expert said writers were increasingly expected to be able to speak publicly about their work and that events such as Booktown gave readers a unique opportunity to engage with authors.  

“When I was an author in my 20s it wasn’t necessarily an expectation that authors were public speakers, whereas today there is because the author is the main asset in a publishing sense,” Mr Holmgren said.  “This is really quite special because it’s also part of that deep book culture.”