Weekend Program
Weekend Pass
Saturday 30 May + Sunday 31 May
Umina Beach SLSC, Ocean Beach SLSC, and The Festival Marquee
The Weekend Pass is your ticket to soul-tickling talks and mind-expanding conversations with some of Australia’s best authors. Enjoy your choice of 8 sessions over two days and three venues.. More details on the program can be found here.
Buy your Weekend Pass, THEN you can book into (‘redeem’) the Sessions you would like to attend.
Saturday Day Pass
Saturday 30 May
Umina Beach SLSC, Ocean Beach SLSC, and The Festival Marquee
Enjoy your choice of 4 sessions across 3 venues. More details on the program can be found here.
Buy your Saturday Pass, THEN you can book into (‘redeem’) the Sessions you would like to attend.
Sunday Day Pass
Sunday 31 may
Umina Beach SLSC, Ocean Beach SLSC, and The Festival Marquee
Enjoy your choice of 4 sessions across 3 venues. More details on the program can be found here.
Buy your Sunday Pass, THEN you can book into (‘redeem’) the Sessions you would like to attend.
Early Bird Weekend Pass
Saturday May 31 + Sunday June 1
Early Bird Discount available until Wednesday March 26.
The Early Bird offer is available from Wednesday February 26 until Wednesday March 26, and applies to the Weekend Pass only (Saturday May 31 and Sunday June 1, 2025). It costs $140 (a saving of $38) and entitles you to choose from 8 sessions across the weekend main program, which means each session only costs $17.50!
To buy tickets just click below and purchase your Early Bird Weekend Pass and then sit back and wait. Once our Weekend Pass program is released in April, you will be prompted to apply your pass to the sessions you want. As an Early Bird pass holder you will receive priority booking access a day early – so you can be sure you won’t miss out on seeing your favourite authors.
Free & Low-cost Events
The Dip
Saturday 30 May, all day
The Dip, Jasmine Greens Park Kiosk, Peninsula Recreation Precinct, Umina Beach
Our fun-loving festival marquee, The Dip, is back! Now located in Jasmine Greens Park Kiosk in the Peninsula Recreation Precinct, Umina Beach, it is our home for low-cost, high-impact author talks on Saturday May 30. Click the links below to purchase your tickets.
Central Coast Reads: Toni Jordan
Saturday 30 May, 8:30am – 9:15am
Festival Marquee, Peninsula Recreation Precinct, Umina Beach
Toni Jordan joins us to chat about her eighth novel, the delightful Tenderfoot, a moving coming of age story set in Brisbane in the 1970s. Kickstart your festival weekend with this free thought-provoking book club discussion as part of Central Coast Reads, now in its third year.
Highlight Events
Opening Address 2026
Wednesday 27 May, 7-8:30pm
The Art House, Wyong
Wednesday 27 May
Reflecting on the 2026 festival theme Take the Time, this exciting event will be hosted by:
- Former leader of the Australian Greens, trailblazing environmentalist Bob Brown;
- Multi-New York Times and Amazon best-selling writer Sarah Wilson;
- Booker-shortlisted author of A Fraction of the Whole, Steve Toltz;
- Indigenous knowledge leader and founder of the Firesticks Alliance, Victor Steffensen, and;
- Viral social media sensation, Jack Toohey.
Each will share their urgent and heartfelt messages on why it’s more important than ever to ‘take the time’; to sit with a complex truth, to consider a view not your own, to indulge in imaginative curiosity. And most importantly, we can commit the rebellious act of reading, and really thinking.
Note: Ticket sales to our Opening Address are made via The Art House Wyong.
An Evening with Bryan Brown
Saturday 30 May, 6:00—7:00pm
Festival Marquee
Settle in for an evening with Bryan Brown, one of Australia’s most beloved screen icons, as he yarns about his remarkable film career and discusses his gripping crime novel The Hidden, a sharp, atmospheric story that proves his storytelling power extends far beyond the screen.
Sparkling Company with Heather Rose
Saturday 30 May, 4:30—5:30pm
Festival Marquee
Hear an enthralling tale of legacy, love and the making of champagne from one of Australia’s finest writers.
Ebb & Flow Poetry Slam
Saturday 30 May, From 7:30pm
Festival Marquee
Words on the Waves proudly presents Ebb & Flow – our now annual poetry slam, where verses take flight from the page and hit the stage.
Late Night Lit
Thursday 28 May, from 7pm
Bar Toto, Ettalong Beach
An evening of spoken word, poetry, open mic performances and other revelations with Jazz Money, Prema Arasu, Tyree Barnette, Antoun Issa, and host Donné Restom.
Invisible Gosford: A History Walk
Friday 29 May, 10am — 12pm
Gosford Memorial Park
Stroll through downtown Gosford with us, as we dig into the layers of grunge, grit and – believe it or not – glitz that make up this urban centre.
Story Club
Friday 29 May, From 7pm
Ocean Beach SLSC
Story Club is a live storytelling show packed with special guests, brilliant stories and lots of laughs. For this Words on the Waves festival edition, our brave guests David Marr, Brigid Delaney and others – alongside intrepid hosts Osher Günsberg and Zoe Norton-Lodge – will share true stories to the theme ‘Take the Time.’
Literary Cruise
Monday 1 June, 11am—2pm
Departs Patonga Wharf
In 2026 this much-loved event is back better than ever. Our storytelling sailors include Lisa Wilkinson AM, who will share the never-before-told true history of the only Australian-born survivor of the sinking of the Titanic. She will be joined by Chris Hammer – a man known for his compelling crime fiction – who has turned his attention to the allure of Eastern shores of Australia in his book The Coast. And finally Western Australian poet and researcher Prema Arasu will titillate with tales of the deep sea from her lushly illustrated title The Book of Sea Monsters.
Writing Workshops
Writing Up Stream
Saturday 30 May and Sunday 31 May
Sessions from 10am – 6.30pm
Via Di Christina, Galleria Ettalong.
Join us for two days of professional development for writers, in conjunction with the Faber Academy and Writing NSW.
Choose a session that appeals to you or book them all!
You’ll receive a 10% discount when you purchase tickets to two or more Writing Up Stream events across Saturday and Sunday.
