“Travel uncertainty and spiralling costs” are being blamed for the cancellation of the Alderney Literary Festival this year.
Alderney Literary Trust, which organises the event, shared the “difficult decision” in a post on social media.
The statement added that “uncertainty around the future of Alderney’s runway” means that the 2027 event could suffer the same fate.
Alderney Literary Festival founder Isabel Picornell said: “The problem is we have reached the stage where it is not possible to get the guest authors and professional support staff, as well as our regular festivalgoers, with 80% coming from off-island, here on schedule.
“We have many world-renowned authors wanting to come to Alderney, along with regular visitors from overseas, including Guernsey and Jersey, so this news will disappoint a lot of people.”
The Alderney Literary Festival was launched in 2014 and has been held every year since, except for 2021 when pandemic restrictions were in place.
The event is generally held in early spring to encourage visitors to travel to Alderney during the quieter months.
However, organisers said that reduced flight frequency during these months has impacted plans for the literary festival.
Aurigny – which operates all commercial flights between Alderney and Guernsey and the UK – has said its 2026 flight schedule is similar to previous years.
“Aurigny’s flight schedules and fares on the routes between Alderney and Guernsey continue to operate similarly to previous years,” said a spokesperson.
“The airline works closely with many community event organisers that reach out asking for additional schedules or assistance.”
The Alderney Literary Trust is hoping to organise more single-author events this year as an alternative.
