Katonah's Book Festival Doubled Its Panels, and the Free Events Fill Downtown Around Them

"I travel for these things," Mount Kisco novelist Maureen Morrissey told The Recorder at the first Westchester Book Festival last November. "The fact that we now have one in Westchester is amazing."

This year it's back in downtown Katonah on Saturday, November 7, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Organizers answered last year's crowds by doubling the main program. By October 19, three of the eight ticketed sessions had already sold out. So for many people in town, the festival will be the rest of the day: the bookstore, the gallery, the gardens and the shops on Katonah Avenue. Those parts were built to carry the day too.

Year one ran out of chairs

The festival began small. In May 2024, John Glusman was having coffee with Bedford Town Supervisor Ellen Calves and asked where the books and authors were in an area so full of arts and culture. Calves suggested Katonah as the place to host something. The Recorder reported that Glusman and his wife, Emily Bestler, wanted a lasting public conversation about books in a place that already had plenty of music and art. The founding group describes itself as editors, literary agents, publishing professionals and book lovers with Westchester ties.

The first festival on November 8, 2025, went well past a modest debut. The Recorder's recap counted more than 30 authors, and organizers estimated more than 1,000 people joined the library sessions, gallery talks, signings and partner events. Glusman described sold-out main events with overflow rooms and full parking lots downtown. Festival planner Midge Iorio told the paper that "so many people" were "asking for an assurance that we plan to do this again next year." Last year's lineup included Geraldine Brooks, Veronica Chambers, Emma Straub, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, David Grann and Patrick Radden Keefe.

Eight conversations, two buildings across the street

For 2026, the festival added rooms. Westchester Magazine quotes board member Lili Lynton saying the main author panels and venues have "doubled," to eight panels in two buildings. In The Recorder's preview, Glusman said the first year's response "exceeded every expectation."

The two venues face each other: Katonah Village Library at 26 Bedford Road and Katonah Presbyterian Church at 31 Bedford Road. The format stays the same as year one. Instead of straight readings, authors whose books share a thread are paired, often with a moderator who is also a writer.

The sold-out pattern shows how the day will run. In each of the first three time slots, one room sold out while the room across the street still had seats on October 19. Every session runs alongside another, so the festival can spread the crowd between the two buildings. If your first choice is gone, the other room at the same hour is the natural backup.

Some practical details from the ticket page:

• Each session costs $25, and you can buy up to four tickets per session per order.
• Seating is first come, first served.
• All tickets are non-refundable.
• No photos or videos are allowed during the author presentations.

Where the $25 goes

The festival's Donate page says ticket proceeds go to Katonah Village Library, Bedford Free Library and Bedford Hills Library. That matches the arrangement reported before the 2025 festival. Those are the libraries for each of Bedford's three hamlets, so a ticket to a session in the Katonah library also helps fund the libraries in Bedford Village and Bedford Hills.

The partner list shows the same town-wide reach. Alongside the three libraries, it names the Katonah Village Improvement Society, the Katonah Chamber of Commerce and the Town of Bedford. Most of what happens outside the two ticketed buildings comes from these partners and from local businesses.

The day outside the ticketed rooms

Most of the festival-day schedule happens away from Bedford Road, and much of it is free or costs little. Here is how the day runs in order, using the times on the festival's partner page:

1. 8:30 to 11 a.m., Lasdon Park and Arboretum, 2610 Amawalk Road. "Literacy at Lasdon: Autumn Nature Journaling" is free and comes with book recommendations, a writing prompt and journaling supplies. It's held outdoors and may be canceled in extreme weather.
2. 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m., Katonah Reading Room, 19 Edgemont Road. The Authors' Corner brings local authors to the festival's official bookseller. The 2026 names haven't been announced yet. Books are also sold at both session venues.
3. 10 a.m. to noon, Katonah Museum of Art, 134 Jay Street. Open Studio bookmaking is for all ages and abilities. Registration is required.
4. 11 a.m. to noon, Petite Art Studio, 23 Valley Road #2. Children in kindergarten through fifth grade can be dropped off to design their own bookplate stickers. Register in advance.
5. 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., G. Willikers, 29 Katonah Avenue. Author Piper Klemm signs books.
6. 11:30 a.m., Oak & Oil, 89 Katonah Avenue. Pam Hart leads "Five Ways of Looking," a workshop and poetry reading. RSVP in advance.
7. Afternoon, Katonah Wine & Liquor, 120 Katonah Avenue. The store pours free samples of its featured "Book Club Wines."
8. 3 to 5 p.m., Katonah Museum of Art. Phylisha Villanueva leads a poetry-writing workshop that ends with a public reading at 4:30 p.m. The workshop costs $25, or $20 for members, and requires advance registration.

Most of the downtown events fall between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., which is the same window as the sold-out Gladwell session at the church. The museum workshop's 4:30 reading also overlaps the last pair of ticketed conversations. Someone without a seat in either building at those hours still has a full day nearby.

Parking, and a farm market in the next lot

The festival lists free all-day parking in two commuter lots, Lot #1 and Lot #3. Lot 2 has its own Saturday event. The John Jay Homestead Farm Market sets up in Lot 2 at 190 Katonah Avenue, Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., and runs through November 21, according to The Recorder's October 16 roundup and its earlier Tasting Notes column. On November 7, the market and the festival share downtown for the whole morning and early afternoon. Last year's full lots suggest that walking between stops will be easier than moving the car.

The rest of that week

The festival caps a busy few days nearby. The same Recorder roundup lists The American Soldier at Caramoor, 149 Girdle Ridge Road, on Thursday, November 5, at 7 p.m. The Muscoot Owl Prowl is at Muscoot Farm, 51 Route 100, on Friday, November 6, at 6 p.m. Across town, the Bedford Playhouse calendar shows Hard Headed Comedy on November 5.

For anyone choosing a session now: on October 19, the five rooms still available were Ada Calhoun and Madeline Cash at 10 a.m. and 'Pemi Aguda and Nafissa Thompson-Spires at noon, followed at 2 p.m. by Maria Semple, then Kevin Powers and David Nasaw and Hernan Diaz at 4 p.m.

If the festival has you curious how Katonah's in-town streets compare with its quieter country roads, or you're thinking about a move within Bedford, Marcie Nolletti would be glad to talk it through, maybe over coffee at the Reading Room. Let's Connect.