FREE Events & Programming

We want our local community to enjoy all that SVWC has to offer, which is why we have opened up select Pavilion Talks for FREE seating on the lawn of the Sun Valley Pavilion. Bring a picnic, blanket, and low-back chair and join us to hear from some of our country’s most inspiring minds.

Select presentations will be broadcast live to the large jumbotron on the Pavilion lawn. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis—no ticketing or registration is required. You can browse our Bookstore Tent to purchase books by each author and join us for book signings following the talk.

If you would prefer to watch the talk from inside the Sun Valley Pavilion, we have single event tickets available. We recommend signing up for our email newsletter to receive important updates and information about these events.

For a complete schedule and more details, visit svwc.com/free-lawn-talks.

SVWC is proud to partner with The Community Library to host free lectures for the local community throughout the year, with two speakers typically bookending the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference.

Visit svwc.com/community-speaker-series for more details.

Photo credit: Barbi Reed

Can’t join us in person? No problem—you can livestream select talks from the Sun Valley Writers’ Conference from anywhere in the world. You don’t have to leave your home to enjoy presentations by some of the country’s—and the world’s—best writers and thinkers.

For more details and information, including talks available for livestreaming, visit svwc.com/livestream. Check back regularly as we add new talks.

Did you know that we have a free digital media library on our website? Everything from our Beyond the Page podcasts and SVWC audio and video recordings to some of the most popular Pavilion Talks throughout the years. You can experience all the best of SVWC at your leisure—anytime, anywhere.

Explore the entire SVWC digital media library at svwc.com/media.

We invite local Wood River Valley students, teachers and library staff to attend Pavilion Talks for free! We have limited seating inside the Sun Valley Pavilion. If talks are at capacity, we may not be able to accommodate everyone, but you are welcome to enjoy the talks from the lawn.

Check in at the Bookstore Tent’s Info Desk on the Sun Valley Pavilion Lawn 30 minutes prior to each talk to check availability and get your pass. Please bring proof of identification in the form of a school or library ID.

View the full schedule of available Pavilion Talks, visit our Schedule & Program page, and filter by “Pavilion Talk.”

The Live Watch Party first began in 2024 to celebrate our 30th Anniversary—we broadcast live content from the Conference directly to The Argyros theater in downtown Ketchum, where viewers are able to tune in together!

Learn more about this event at svwc.com/watchparty.

In place of our single event tickets for Pavilion Talks, as of 2025, we have a new offering—the Special Series Pavilion Pass!

Learn more about this pass at svwc.com/pavilion-pass.