About Camp YA

Hello Campers,

Welcome to Camp YA, an immersive adventurous festival by the bookish community for the bookish community! Over the course of two days, we’ll be bringing you an action-packed line-up of panels and workshops with authors, bloggers, and content creators from around the world.

The best bit?
We’re a hybrid festival! This means that you’ll be able to join us in person in London for the physical part of the festival. But if you’re unable to make it to London, you don’t have to miss out! You can also enjoy the event from the comfort of your own home – building a fort in your bedroom is, of course, optional, but really… we do highly encourage it.

We’ll also find out whether you have what it takes to win the Camp YA Cup. Team Trout, Team Wren, or Team Beaver – which one will you be? And who will come out on top? Join the challenges in London and online to support your team to victory!

The start of Camp YA
We set up Camp YA during the COVID Lockdown to make the bookish world feel a little smaller and make us all feel a bit more connected to each other. In 2020 and 2021 authors, bloggers, and creators from all around the world joined us to set up an amazing festival. Campers from more than 15 countries tuned into our streams for our panels, workshops, to find out about upcoming books and new authors, as well as find the latest bookish goodies. The community joined us with challenges on social media and our discord. You can check out our previous events in our memories tab.

Charity Partner
From our start in 2020 we’ve partnered with Room To Read, to promote the amazing work they’re doing in creating a world free from illiteracy and gender inequality.

For everyone
Part of the original idea for Camp YA was that we wanted to make this a bookish festival for everyone. We wanted it to be as accessible as possible around the world, which is why the festival has always been free to join online and we are continuing our free stream ticket option in 2023.
On the guest side we wanted to feature authors from as many different backgrounds as possible – whether they are indie or traditionally published. Our aim to celebrate stories from all corners of the world and to celebrate unsung voices along with more established ones has resulted in a programme we’re really proud of!

Part of our for everyone ethos also means that accessibility is key. We’re so happy with our in person home at Studio Wayne McGregor which has lifts and ramps going to every floor, as well as accessible toilets on every floor. As before, our online programme will be fully available on YouTube with captions on all content.

Pass it Forward
With our first hybrid edition taking place in person as well as online, some of our amazing campers offered to buy a ticket for someone else, and so our Pass it Forward system was born. We’re happy that this system can provide free in person tickets to readers from disadvantaged backgrounds who otherwise would be unable to join the festival.

If you are less privileged and in need of a ticket to enjoy the festival, please head to https://campya.org/pass-it-forward/ and apply by filling out the google doc.

So come sit down, help us champion new and unsung voices in the YA community, and don’t forget to share your journey with us on social media. Tag @CampYAFest and use #CampYA – we can’t wait to see your posts!

Camp YA Team x