About
The Better Off Read Summer Book Festival is an annual, all-ages, free-to-attend, literary festival held in Lewiston, NY with the mission to encourage reading, promote writing, and celebrate storytelling. The festival features thousands of new and used books available for purchase at highly-discounted prices; vendor booths by local authors, artists, and merchants; complimentary attractions such as storytelling, face-painting, and balloon animals; a high-profile celebrity-sponsored basket raffle; and much more. This festival serves as my way of thanking the local community for donating books to my library throughout the year. However, it’s also just my all-out and sincere attempt at trying to show people that reading, writing, and storytelling genuinely can be so much cooler and more fun than they ever possibly imagined.
Having first been held at Stella Niagara in the summer of 2022, the festival has seen tremendous growth throughout the past three years. In 2024, the festival was given the opportunity to expand and relocate to Artpark State Park. The 3rd Annual Better Off Read Summer Book Festival occurred at Artpark on Saturday, August 31st, 2024, and it was an enormous success. The event took advantage of the new location and was able to include more books, vendors, and attractions than ever before. The efforts were rewarded with thousands of people traveling from all over the Western New York area to attend.
Over the years, the festival has been proud to receive support from dozens of area sponsors. These include well-known Western New York organizations such as the Buffalo Sabres, the Buffalo Bisons, the Buffalo Bandits, Wegmans, and more; as well as numerous smaller local businesses such as Orange Cat Coffee Co, Vincenzo's Pizza, the Village Bake Shoppe, Kelly's Beauty Bar, and many others.
Additionally, for each of the past three years, the event has been incredibly proud to feature a special raffle with prizes donated by some of the world's best storytellers. Previous donors to the festival include Tom Hanks, Billie Eilish, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Scarlett Johansson, Bob Dylan, Aubrey Plaza, Bruce Springsteen, Sarah Silverman, George Lucas, Tony Hawk, and over 100 other notable individuals.
The 4th Annual Better Off Read Summer Book Festival will return in 2025.
Event Organizers
Ian Kinney
Hi, my name is Ian Kinney. I’m a writer from Lewiston, NY, and I run a small, non-profit publishing company alongside a free community library out of rented office space at my former elementary school, Stella Niagara Education Park.
The Better Off Read Summer Book Festival is my annual way of thanking the local community for donating books to my library throughout the year. However, it’s also just my all-out and sincere attempt at trying to show people that reading, writing, and storytelling really can be so much cooler and more fun than they ever imagined.
The incredible support and positive reception this event has received throughout the past few years has been nothing short of a dream come true for me. It’s my hope that this festival will continue growing and expanding for many more years to come.
Marlee Jaeger
Marlee Jaeger is my long-running, part-time, summer assistant. She has been working with me ever since I was first coming up with the idea for this festival, and the event would never be possible without the time, dedication, and hard work she puts into it each year.
Marlee currently attends Fredonia State University as a third-year student and is enrolled in their Pre-Med Program. In addition to a lifelong love of reading, her other hobbies include binge-watching old episodes of Gilmore Girls at her desk, listening to Lana Del Rey, and eating Chipotle.