FAQ

Camp YA is a Young Adult Book Festival organised by fans for the fans. We started in lockdown in 2020 to champion unsung voice and to bring together book fans from all over the world.

The third Camp YA will be held as a hybrid festival on Saturday 29th and Sunday 30th of July 2023 at Studio Wayne McGregor in Stratford, London and online on our Twitch stream.

Camp YA will take over Studio Wayne McGregor in Queen Elizabeth Park in Stratford, London. The event will take place on all 3 floors of the space with panels, workshops and much more. And our online stream will be able to be accessed on Twitch.

After a very long discussion with many names brought forward it became very clear to us that we wanted the event to have the fun feel of a summer camp. Everyone getting together, doing activities, and just share the fun, so everything became camp themed. Our Camp YA Cup has camp challenges, some of our workshops are typically camp themed, we've got scavenger hunts, team bonding and we love camp themed books read around a (virtual) campfire! During our online festival we highly encouraged people to set up their tent and enjoy the festival that way. Unfortunately, Camp YA is not quite like a summer camp just yet. There will be no sleepovers or actual campfires, but never say never.

One thing that is very important to us is to make sure as many people as possible can have access to the event. Our previous 2 events in 2020 and 2021 were held online during the COVID lockdown, but this year we're proud to present our in person event alongside our online stream. There will be a different schedule for both in person and online events, with some overlap. Some of in person panels will be able to be viewed online, and some of the online panels will be shared on screen at the physical event. Workshops will not be shared between the in person and online festival. There will also be activities that you can do both in person and online, such as the Camp YA Cup where you team up with team members from one of the 3 teams and do challenges to win the most points, and the ultimate bragging rights.

You can get your tickets via campyafest.eventbrite.co.uk We've got Saturday, Sunday and Weekend in person paid tickets, and online free tickets.

We've had some amazing people offer to buy a ticket for someone else, so we've put together our Pass it Forward system. If you cannot make it but would like to support the festival and someone being able to enjoy it for you, you can buy a ticket for someone less privileged. Please purchase a ticket and email us at team@campya.org to let us know you've done so.

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.

The Camp YA Cup is a highly competitive and highly sought after challenge event. We set up a series of challenges for you and your teammates to complete. Take he quiz and find out what team you belong to, or just pick the team which speaks the most to you. We've got: Team Trout, Team Beaver and Team Wren. They're all headed by our camp counselors who will do anything to help you win the most points over the weekend. The challenges include taking a picture of your favourite book to bring to camp, write a letter to a friend from camp and make your favourite camp dish. Your teams will consist of campers that take part in person and campers that are online, and together you'll work for the most points. You can talk to your team members and cheer them on in our discord channel. At the end on Sunday we will tally up your points and announce the winner of this year's cup. There are prizes up for grabs for best and most enthusiastic entries, sponsored by our favourite shops and publishers.

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!

The venue is completely accessible with lifts and ramps going to every floor. There are accessible toilets on every floor. It's very important to the venue and Camp YA that as many people as possible can access the physical venue, but also that we have our online programme for those that cannot join us in person. After the event itself we always take the videos from our streams and put them on our YouTube with captions, for people to also be able to enjoy it that way. We're always open to develop new ways to be come more accessible. Please do get in touch if you have concerns, require assistance, or have ideas on how we can help make it more accessible for you.

We love the exciting weekend we've planned, but we also understand that people need to take a step back to just breathe from time to time. We've made sure there is a designated Quiet Space on the second floor for you to enjoy and read a book, or just relax and recharge.

At the in person event, after every panel our authors will available to sign your books. There will be a designated signing location which will be shown on our map ahead of the event. Anyone at the venue can join the signing queues. Limits to how many books you can sign depend on the author, we will make it clear ahead of the event how many this will be. If it's not specifically stated, there is no limit. If you need assistance please let us know ahead of time via our contact info or at our info desk.

We will not have a designated cloakroom at the venue. Please keep your bags with you as much as possible. However, if you are not able to keep them with you, please head to our info desk to see how we can help.

There will be water stations throughout the venue, sponsored by Prevented Ocean Plastic. So please do bring your own water bottle. While there will be no food sold at the venue, we will be in a lovely complex with restaurants and cafe's around the venue. You're also welcome to bring your own food and drinks to the venue.

Every year we partner with some of our favourite small shops to be able to offer you the newest merch of your favourite books. We will have an online and in person Market Square where you'll be able to buy t-shirts, jewellery, craft kits and much more. Some of our shops have been kind enough to offer you a Camp YA special discount code.

• To prepare for Camp YA please take a look at the schedule before the event and map out what you would like to see.
• Workshops will be done in small groups, so do sign in to those at workshop space.
• We'll be sharing the floorplan ahead of the event so that you can take a look at where everything is. The venue is quite contained and only used by Camp YA for that weekend, so you should be able to find things easily, if you have any questions please do ask our volunteers or camp counselors.
• Plan the authors you want to see and the books you'd like to bring.
• Take something to drink and eat with you.
• Think about what you might need to get through an exciting weekend.

YES please, is the answer. There are 8 camp counselors hard at work to make this festival a success, but we cannot do it without YOU. Please head to https://campya.org/volunteers/ and apply to be a Camp YA 2023 volunteer.

Yes absolutely. Our recommended age for this event is 12+ and you are welcome to bring your class along. If you'd like to know more or promote our event at your school please email us on team@campya.org.

We are aware that there is a Train Strike planned, and while we hope that this will be cancelled, there are certainly many ways to travel to the venue. The easiest way to reach us is by public transport and the nearest stations are Hackney Wick (London Overground) and Stratford (DLR, tube, rail). A free shuttle bus runs between Here East and Stratford International and Stratford tube station on Saturday.