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After the three-day fantasy book festival, Dreamers & Readers Festival, was abruptly canceled on Feb. 17 — just two weeks before its scheduled kickoff — the book-loving community gathered to plan a replacement event, aiming to soothe the widespread disappointment felt among Dallas’ fantastical bibliophiles.
Leslie Hernandez of Un Jour D’Amour Events, and organizer of the initial event, announced the cancellation on Instagram, citing the inability to meet the venue’s financial requirements. Reactions from disenchanted ticket holders popped up online. One Instagram user commented, “It’s giving Fyre Fest” — a reference to the viral 2017 failed music festival — and others expressed dissatisfaction about refunds and communication. Still, amid the complaints, seeds of hope eventually sprouted into a slate of new events.
Local bookstores and influencers chimed in to express their sorrow, suggesting ideas for a spinoff event to salvage the festival’s chaotic cancellation. The lineup initially boasted a formal ball each day, over 200 authors and creators and around 2,000 expected attendees. Within 48 hours of the cancellation announcement, the local community rallied, and a free, scaled-back replacement fantasy event was planned for ticket holders: the Get Booked Ball on March 7.
Presented by a trio of organizations, Dallas book community, Always Booked and Whimsy Forge, and a collective of artists and fashion designers, the spinoff ball is all about “readers supporting readers.”
Organizers wanted to give bookworms an opportunity to wear the elaborate looks they’d planned for the promenades at the canceled festival. As the uproar unfolded in the comment section, Olivia Boyd of Always Booked was among the local book influencers who joined the conversation and sparked interest in alternative events.
“Quite disappointed and sad to see this,” Boyd wrote. “We’ve put a lot into our merch as vendors […] maybe we could all spin up a bookish market that weekend still to help move product all of the authors and vendors have put into this.”
Responses rolled in, with local bookstores and creators chiming in with ideas and support.
Like many other would-be attendees and vendors, Boyd and her Always Booked podcast co-hosts, Emily Henderson and Dani Cianni, had purchased tickets nearly two years ago and already paid for merchandise to sell at the festival.
“Just knowing how much money and time we spent and […] honestly, probably some people were in worse positions,” Henderson tells the Observer. “They’re not local, so they spent money on airfare. So [the Get Booked Ball] is just a way for us to give back to the community that is so special to us already.”
Cosplay photographer and ticketholder Samantha Coyle told CBS News they were out $1,200 in associated costs. Rena Mangold, an author who planned to be at the festival and had already shipped books to Dallas, told the outlet she was out at least $1,800. Although the Always Booked group couldn’t plan a replacement event of the same caliber as the original festival in just two weeks, Boyd says they wanted to give people who’d already made travel plans even just a small opportunity to connect.
The Get Booked Ball, a volunteer-led effort, is taking a smaller, more grassroots approach to the canceled formal balls. Due to venue capacity, the ball is limited to 300 people, and is sold out. As of Feb. 27, the wait-list was already 120 people long. The event is limited to Dreamers & Readers Festival ticket holders and requires verification. The three-hour gala will be an “elegant and whimsical” ball without a vendor market.
The ball will feature a live DJ, a cash bar, permanent jewelry by Forged and Fated and flash tattoos from Jane Doe Tattoos & Piercings. The book ball will feature a fashion show by Whimsy Forge, an event originally planned for the canceled festival. There will be portrait photographers, a videographer and a sprinkle of fantasy-book-inspired decor. A plan for food is still in the works, and formal attire is encouraged.
Many of the vendors are donating their time, Henderson says.
The organizers say that, with time constraints and limited capacity, they focused on keeping the ball affordable and on setting realistic expectations for what they could pull off in two weeks. Henderson says once a friend helped lock down a venue, a whirlwind of local vendors and book influencers volunteered to support and elevate the event.
“We were set on [not charging] anybody anything — everybody is out so much money already, so let’s see if we can make it happen for a small amount, or lift on our side,” Henderson says. “This is literally like, we’ll have music, and you can dance, and you can wear your gown. Like, that’s bare minimum. But now we have […] all of these people being like, ‘I’m willing to donate my time. I want to help with this.’ That’s the coolest part. See everybody try and say ‘we want to help with this as well and help the community.’”
Organizers say $3,000 in donations poured in as of last Friday, with the largest donation from New York Times Bestselling sci-fi romance fantasy author Ruby Dixon. Grapevine’s Talking Animals Books, where the Always Booked group hosts a monthly book club, also pitched in.
Hernandez, the organizer behind the Dreamers & Readers Festival, has a slate of similar events lined up this year around the United States, including the rescheduled Throne of Starlight Ball in New Jersey, which was moved from January to November. The new date was due to insufficient ticket sales, organizers said in December.
We reached out to Hernandez and her team for comment, but haven’t heard back as of publication.
While the Get Booked Ball, which organizers say sold out in three minutes, doesn’t have capacity for every person who planned to attend the canceled festival, there is a flurry of events for March 6 – 8, dubbed Dallas Readers Weekend, for bookworms, authors and vendors to connect with the community. Check their website to get your book on.
