The Sun Valley Writers’ Conference (SVWC) has already set records during its 30^th Anniversary year—Conference Passes sold out in less than 15 minutes, eager fans purchased the single event tickets for Pavilion Talks at breakneck speed, and all seats for the free Community Speaker Series talks—Judy Blume on July 17 and John Vaillant on July 23 at The Community Library—filled up within hours.

To help meet growing demand over the years, we have opened up access to our content in a variety of ways. This includes free livestreaming from home, free lawn seating at the Sun Valley Pavilion, and free online content in the SVWC digital media library. In addition, thanks to generous donations, we have increased outreach in Blaine County schools, with a Student/Author Luncheon during the Conference and a School Speaker Series with Javier Zamora. The Community Scholars Program for teachers and students and the Writing Fellows Program for young writers have also been expanded this year.

But even with so many community events and free programming, the demand and enthusiasm in 2024 has been unprecedented. In response, we decided to create a brand-new special offering for our 30^th Anniversary — a Live Watch Party at the Argyros Performing Arts Center!

At this new event in downtown Ketchum, SVWC will simulcast exclusive content from the 2024 Conference live to the big screen at The Argyros—including several talks that are not available for livestreaming at home, lawn talks, or single event tickets. There will also be books available for purchase, SVWC gift items, special guest appearances, drinks, music, and more. We are eager to celebrate our 30^th Anniversary with local Wood River Valley residents, so please join us, July 20-22, for a festive and fun group viewing party.

In the words of SVWC’s Creative Director James Tooley, “This year we are really excited to add the Live Watch Party at The Argyros as a way for people to come together to engage with our content and with each other. We have such a fantastic lineup of presenters this year and we can’t wait to share it with more of our community.”

Watch Party Passes will go on sale June 19 at 9:00 AM Mountain Time via the SVWC website ($30 for a 3-day Watch Party Pass). If the event hasn’t sold out, there will also be same-day passes available to purchase at the door of The Argyros ($10 for a single-day Watch Party Pass). To purchase and to view the most up-to-date schedule of live talks available at the Watch Party, visit svwc.com/watchparty.

Photo credit: courtesy The Argyros