New format of Emirates Airline Festival of Literature

The annual Emirates Airline Festival of Literature 2021 will have a mix of virtual and in-person sessions, fewer seats and multiple locations because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The format changes and safety precautions were announced during a reveal of the author line up for the “lit fest” on Tuesday. To prevent crowding, the latest edition will be held over three weekends at three locations in Dubai: January 29 to 30 at Art Jameel, February 4 to 6 at InterContinental Dubai (the regular main venue), and February 12 to 13 at Alserkal Avenue.

The award ceremonies will not be held at the event, such as the education awards, which will be delayed till March, the Month of Reading. Also, there will be no book signing events, with pre-signed copies of books instead available for purchase.

Moreover, there could be changes to which authors will physically attend the event because of the “fluid situation” regarding flights, a virtual media briefing heard on Tuesday.

Another change will see visitors having to select available seats online when buying tickets, like when choosing seats on the cashier’s screen at the cinema.

Tickets will start from Dh40 for the children’s sessions and Dh60 for the adults’ sessions. There will be other prices for tickets for special events, workshops and tiered seating. There is also an option for a “virtual ticket” priced Dh100 that allows access to all virtual sessions, which will be at least 10 in number. All tickets will be available for purchase online at the lit fest’s website, starting from around mid-January.