Milford Readers and Writers Festival is alive and well, but a little late

Questions about the Milford Readers and Writers Festival abound.

The festival is held annually in September. Will there be a full festival this year? Will it be live? Where will it be? Who is presenting?

“So many of our regular fans have been asking me in the past month what we’re doing for the festival,” said Edson Whitney, chair of the festival board. “Interest is very high, and it was a difficult decision for the board to make to have to postpone our event.”

In fact, the board has been grappling with some of these questions since May, given the rising severity of the Covid-19 pandemic.

”As a public health professional, I know that our decision was based on our concern for the health and well-being of our audience, panelists, and the community, given the uncertainties of the rapid spread of the Covid-19 Delta Variant,” Whitney said.

Festival co-chair Carol McManus said that while festival cannot make a definite announcement just yet, there will be “something in town before the end of the year.”

“There is no group of people more passionate than the board who is committed and dedicated to bringing the festival to Milford and to providing an environment where readers and writers can have a smart conversation about issues and provocative stories that matter,” she said.

With that goal in mind, even though the festival has been paired down to one day, they are planning to hopefully do a live panel of impressive professionals on how books are accepted or why they are rejected based on the psycho-socio environment we live in today. “As soon as we are confident that the health and safety of our participants and panelists are secure, we will announce the date and location,” McManus said.

The Milford Readers and Writers Festival is one of the premiere events of Milford and one to which people come from many different parts of the country. It has always been celebrated for the first rate caliber of its presenters, panelists, and audience and there is a hunger for its return, in any form at all, given the uncertainties of the recent surge of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“We are thankful to our loyal audience for their patience and understanding,” said Whitney.