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Annual Events

2026 applications open through October 31

The 6th annual Rocktown Author Festival will occur at Massanutten Regional Library on Saturday, April 25, 2026, including up to 36 local authors. Additional festival programs are to be determined.

Frequently Asked Questions

Festival Attendees  |  Festival Applicants and Exhibitors

Click below for past Festival Brochures

2025   2024   2023   2022   2019
 

What is Rocktown Author Festival?

Massanutten Regional Library (MRL)'s Rocktown Author Festival is an annual event that celebrates local authors and offers support to attendees who wish to become published authors! It's held in April at Central Library in downtown Harrisonburg. The Festival includes a free, open forum for the public to meet and greet local authors, purchase their works, and get signatures! We also host free, expert-led panels on the writing and publishing industry.

Exhibiting at the Rocktown Author Festival

Are you a local, published author interested in exhibiting at the 2026 Rocktown Author Festival? Applications from local authors will be considered from September 22, 2025 - October 31, 2025. Please review the guidelines below, complete the application, and click on the Submit button for consideration by the 2026 Festival Committee.

Author Submissions

Author participation in the 2026 Rocktown Author Festival is by invitation only AFTER an author application form has been submitted through our website and reviewed by the Festival Committee. The Committee will choose authors from those applications received by 11:59 PM, October 31, 2025. Incomplete forms will not be reviewed, and online submissions are required. Please read the submission guidelines below closely.

Important Dates:

·         September 22, 2025: Applications open

·         October 31, 2025: Deadline for applications (11:59 PM)

·         December 15, 2025: Author invitations issued via email

·         January 15, 2026: Deadline for invited authors to confirm participation and submit short biography, headshot, and table agreement

·         April 25, 2026: Rocktown Author Festival takes place from 10AM – 3PM

Submission Guidelines:

Local authors interested in applying to exhibit at the 2026 Rocktown Author Festival must:

  • be a published author in MRL's service area of Harrisonburg, Rockingham County, and Page County, or in our Virginia bordering counties (Augusta, Albemarle, Greene, Madison, Rappahannock, Shenandoah, Warren) or West Virginia bordering counties (Hardy and Pendleton).
  • have published within the past two years.
  • complete the application form below.
  • adhere to Festival Committee's final selections and guidelines for exhibiting.
  • authors who exhibited in 2025's Festival are ineligible
  • authors must be able to sell their books and are responsible for their own payment methods

If invited to participate in the Rocktown Author Festival, some authors may be invited to do a reading or participate in a panel discussion. If you have expertise in these areas, please complete that portion of the application below. Please note that application submission does not guarantee Festival selection. Author selections are at the sole discretion of the Festival Committee, and all Committee decisions on author selection and Festival program format are final.

For more information about the Rocktown Author Festival Submission process, please read these Frequently Asked Questions.

Please complete the application below by 11:59 PM, October 31, 2025. 

Apply Here

Country
Address Line 1 *
City *
State/Province *
Postal Code *
Audience
Have you exhibited at Rocktown Author Festival before?
Can you sell your books at the festival?
If your application is chosen, can you commit to being present from 10AM-3PM on 4/25/26?

Please review your information above for accuracy and click submit below to have your application sent to our 2026 Festival Committee. Thank you for your interest in exhibiting at the 2026 Rocktown Author Festival!

© 2025 Massanutten Regional Library
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