The Charleston Literary Festival runs November 6 to 15, 2026, mostly at the Dock Street Theatre, 135 Church Street, in downtown Charleston. The final weekend is Friday November 13 through Sunday November 15. Both weekend VIP packages read SOLD OUT on the festival’s own VIP page, and eleven sessions across those three days still carry a ticket.
What the final weekend still sells
The festival publishes 17 sessions for the last three days: 5 on Friday, 7 on Saturday and 5 on Sunday. Each session runs about an hour.
Two sessions are listed at “From $30”, eight at $30, and one at $35. Session prices are published per event on the program page, and individual tickets are on sale now. A reader who buys every available seat on the final weekend spends at least $335.
Six sessions have no seats left
The sold-out list is specific. Curtis Sittenfeld at 5 p.m. Friday and Barbara Kingsolver at 7 p.m. Friday are gone. So are Michael Cunningham at 1 p.m. Saturday, Eric Ripert and Nigel Parry at 3 p.m. Saturday, Jenna Bush Hager and Lucy Tan at 11 a.m. Sunday, and the Eric Litwin children’s session at 9 a.m. Saturday.
General admission to the Litwin session is sold out. The program lists children aged 12 and under as free.
The livestream covers four of the six
Four of those sold-out sessions carry an At-Home Livestream line at $10. The four are Sittenfeld, Kingsolver, Ripert and the Sunday morning session with Jenna Bush Hager and Lucy Tan. Cunningham and Litwin publish no livestream option.
A $10 stream buys the talk without the room. A pop-up bookstore sits in the theatre lobby, and signings follow most in-person events.
The midweek package does not reach the weekend
Three packages exist. The First Weekend, November 6 to 8, is sold out at $2,000 per person or $3,500 for two. The Second Weekend, November 13 to 15, is sold out at the same prices. The Midweek package, November 10 to 12, remains on sale at $1,500 per person or $2,750 for two.
The weekend packages list access to all festival events, the donor lounge, the literary walking tour, the garden tour and invitations to two private parties. The midweek package lists the events, the donor lounge and both tours, with no private parties named. A reader who wants the final weekend cannot buy a package. The $1,500 tier ends on November 12, the night before the weekend opens.
The VIP page sends purchase enquiries to Suzanne Pollak by email. Her title reads Founding Development Director there and Director of Development on the FAQ page.
Seating is general admission, with a donor section at the front
The FAQ states it plainly. Seating at the Dock Street Theatre is general admission, and a preferred section at the front of the theatre goes to donors. A ticket buys entry and not a numbered seat. Arrive early for a center seat.
The theatre is wheelchair accessible. A front of house team member carries Able SC training and offers one-on-one help with accessibility needs.
The hotel codes are published
The VIP packages advertise discounted luxury hotel rooms as a benefit. The discount codes sit on the festival’s public Hotel Partners page. The Francis Marion Hotel takes code CLF2026. The Charleston Place takes corporate ID 64410 in the promo field. The Charleston Vacays collection takes code CHSLIT.
Six further partners carry a booking link and no code: The Mills House, The Loutrel, Fulton Lane Inn, The French Quarter Inn, The Spectator Hotel and The Palmetto Hotel. No partner publishes a nightly rate on the festival’s pages, so the rate arrives at the booking step.
One session moves off Church Street. Chef Kwame Onwuachi speaks at 9.30 a.m. Saturday at The Charleston Gaillard Center, and every other session sits at the Dock Street Theatre.
Three nights or four
The festival ends with Freshwater: A Comedy at 7 p.m. on Sunday. A Friday arrival through a Monday checkout is three nights. A Thursday arrival through the same checkout is four nights and adds the Thursday evening before the first Friday session at 11 a.m.
Street parking sits in front of the theatre. The Cumberland Street Garage at 90 Cumberland Street sits two blocks from the theatre, with handicap spaces on the first level. Charleston International Airport sits about 20 minutes from downtown.
The order of operations
Buy the eleven open sessions first. The individual ticket is the only route into the final weekend. Add the $10 streams for the four sold-out talks. Book a partner hotel with the published code, then ask the property for the nightly rate in writing. Set the arrival night from the Friday 11 a.m. start and the Sunday 7 p.m. close. Leave the midweek package alone unless the dates can move to November 10.