Adelaide Festival has confirmed the country’s only free literary festival has been scrapped in 2026.

It came as the festival’s remaining board members resigned on Tuesday.

The Adelaide Festival has also apologised to Palestinian author Randa Abdel-Fattah but has not reversed its decision to withdraw her invitation to Writers’ Week, instead letting the festival crumble. On Tuesday afternoon, it announced the 2026 edition of the renowned literary festival had been called off.

After days of silence, the remaining board members released a statement saying “we took this action out of respect for a community experiencing the pain from a devastating event. Instead, this decision has created more division and for that we express our sincere apologies”.

“Many authors have since announced they will no longer appear at Adelaide Writers’ Week 2026 and it is the Adelaide Festival’s position that the event can no longer go ahead as scheduled for this year. This is a deeply regrettable outcome,” the statement read.

“We recognise and deeply regret the distress this decision has caused to our audience, artists and writers, donors, corporate partners, the government and our own staff and people.

“We also apologise to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah for how the decision was represented and reiterate this is not about identity or dissent but rather a continuing rapid shift in the national discourse around the breadth of freedom of expression in our nation following Australia’s worst terror attack in history.”

Abdel-Fattah swiftly rejected the festival’s apology in a response posted to social media on Tuesday afternoon.

“I refuse and reject the Board’s apology. It is disingenuous. It adds insult to injury. It is clear that the board’s regret extends to how the message of my cancellation was conveyed, not the decision itself,” she wrote on X.

Tumultuous days followed the festival’s decision, with more than 100 writers announcing they would boycott the event, board chair Tracey Whiting resigning along with three other board members. and on Tuesday morning, Writers’ Week director Louise Adler officially resigned, saying the event was the “canary in the coal mine” around free speech.

The festival board statement said it was “committed to rebuilding trust with our artistic community and audience to enable open and respectful discussions at future Adelaide Writers’ Week events”.

It was unclear how the festival organisation would continue after the decision as the board said its focus was “on ensuring a successful Adelaide Festival proceeds in a way which safeguards the long and rich cultural legacy of our state but also protects the hardworking staff delivering this important event”.

“With this in mind, all remaining members of the Adelaide Festival noard will today step down – with the exception of Adelaide City Council representative whose term expires on February 2, 2026 – to allow for an orderly transition to a new board to secure the success of the 2026 Adelaide Festival and beyond.”

South Australian Premier Peter Malinauskas has been contacted for comment.

The literary festival had been due to begin on February 28.

Republished from InDaily