Festival Day runs Sunday, September 27, 2026, 10am to 6pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall and the venues around it. Entry is free. For a school group or a staff outing, the budget sits in travel, meals and rooms.
The Dates That Matter for a Group
The festival runs September 20 through 28, nine days of literary events in person and online. Three dates carry the most value for an organised group.
Virtual Festival Day ran Sunday, September 20, 12pm to 5pm, and the programs streamed free. The festival keeps a free Virtual Archive of recorded programs.
Children's Day runs Saturday, September 26, 10am to 4pm at Brooklyn Borough Hall and Plaza, 209 Joralemon St. The festival lists readings, workshops, performances, book signings and art projects across the day. The announced line-up includes R.J. Palacio, Bess Kalb, Mahogany L. Browne, Jorge Aguirre and Adam Gidwitz.
Festival Day runs Sunday, September 27, 10am to 6pm. The festival places eight indoor and outdoor stages at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn Law School, the Center for Brooklyn History, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, Columbus Park and the Korean War Veteran's Park. The announced line-up includes Marlon James, Colson Whitehead, Tracy K. Smith, Cristina Rivera Garza and Namwali Serpell.
Bookend events run September 20 through 28 at venues in all five boroughs. The festival lists them as free and low-cost. The Literary Lounge at the Andrew Freedman Home in the Bronx carries a $5 price line.
The Literary Marketplace fills the parks around Borough Hall. The festival states that the outdoor marketplace welcomes more than 200 publishers each year and that the 2026 space is sold out.
Where the Group Budget Goes
The festival's mission statement describes free literary and cultural events at Festival Day, Virtual Festival Day and Children's Day. A group pays for the journey, the food and the beds.
MTA subway and local bus fare is $3.00 per ride, so a round trip costs $6.00 per person and $180.00 for 30 people. An express bus costs $7.25 per ride. The AirTrain between JFK and Jamaica or Howard Beach costs $8.75 one way, and 30 arrivals total $262.50.
The Congestion Relief Zone covers the local streets and avenues of Manhattan south of and including 60th Street. A coach based in Brooklyn stays outside the toll.
Set the Headcount First
The headcount decides the room count, the transport order and the supervision plan. Collect names, ages, rooming preferences, dietary needs and access requirements on one sheet. Lock the number two weeks before departure. Chaperone ratios come from your own school or company policy.
Thirty travellers occupy 15 double rooms. Add one room for staff when your policy requires supervisors in a separate room.
One Meeting Point, One Check-In Time
The eight stages sit in Downtown Brooklyn around Borough Hall. Name one meeting point in writing, such as the Borough Hall steps at 209 Joralemon St.
Set the arrival for 9:30am, 30 minutes before the first 10am session. Add one check-in before the group splits into smaller parties. Two further check-ins cover the day, one at 12:30pm and one at 4:30pm. The last sessions end at 6pm.
Print the meeting point, the check-in times and one staff phone number on a card for every member of the group. The festival publishes a free digital guide through the Bloomberg Connects app, so each chaperone can carry the schedule on a phone.
Meals
Set a per-person meal allowance for the day, and put it on the same sheet as the travel and room lines. Confirm any outside-food rule with the venue before you send the allowance to parents or staff.
Rooms and the Rate a Planner Negotiates
The New York State Comptroller reported in July 2026 that citywide hotel occupancy reached 84.1 percent in 2025 and the average daily room rate reached $333.71. Use that rate as the starting point for a Sunday night in late September.
Run one estimate before the first call. Thirty travellers in 15 double rooms for two nights at the 2025 citywide average come to $10,011.30 in room revenue.
Three charges sit on top. The New York City hotel room occupancy tax takes 5.875 percent of the rent, which is $588.16. New York State and New York City sales tax at 8.875 percent adds $888.50. The fixed charges are $2.00 per room per day under the city hotel tax on rent of $40 or more, plus $1.50 per unit per day for the New York State hotel unit fee. Those two come to $105.00 across 30 room nights.
The total comes to $11,592.96. That is $386.43 per person for two nights.
Send the headcount, the dates and the room mix to hotels in one request through RFP submission. Compare offers on the full total, including fixed charges and cancellation terms. The group rate calculator turns an offer into a per-person number, and the city directory lists properties around Downtown Brooklyn.
The Sign-Off Sheet
A headteacher or a manager signs off on numbers, so put them on one page. List the dates, the headcount, the cost per head, the transport plan, the supervision ratio, the meeting point, the check-in times, the emergency contact and any medical or access needs.
The festival states that the Brooklyn Book Festival takes place rain or shine and that refunds are not issued for inclement weather. Entry is free, so a weather cancellation removes a journey and a room block. Ask the hotel for the cancellation window and the rooming list deadline before anyone signs.
Build the plan from the headcount and the meeting point. The how it works page sets out the booking steps, and the property directory gives the shortlist.
