Fantastique Fiasco
Dreamers & Readers Festival Canceled
This is not my usual content but its been top of mind for the month of February so here we are. I want to start by saying I’m sharing my personal experience here and I recommend searching for additional information to form your own well rounded conclusions.
Dreamers & Readers Festival was a book convention to be held on March 6-8, 2026 in Grapevine, Texas near Dallas. It was marketed as three days of themed balls, fairy teas, featured authors, and a wide variety of vendors at the luxurious Gaylord Texan Resort. As a local wanting to finally come out of my writing cave and interact with the book community, this seamed like an ideal opportunity to meet new friends and see some of the authors whose books I enjoyed.
Back in May 2025, my husband gifted tickets to the festival and a fairy tea party for Mother’s Day. I was nervous to go solo, but excited to get some time to myself for the time in at least eight years! I was admittedly wary as I’d seen several bookish events fail spectacularly at that point but was comforted that they’d hosted several successful events. Still, the lack of communication over the next few months was unsettling.
Fast forward to January 2026, two months before the event was to take place. I’d gotten out there and had talked with a few people online who were to attend as well as made friends in a local writing group. One of the members was set to be a featured author and have her own booth. I wasn’t going to be totally alone! With that, I was getting serious FOMO from not getting tickets to the Starfall Ball. After confirming my friend would be attending, I went and purchased a separate ticket to attend ball (did I mention that every event other than the artist ally was ticketed at additional costs?). Shortly after I splurged and got a hotel room at the very pricy Gaylord so I wouldn’t have to drive back and forth (it’s not that far but we agreed I needed a real break).
Now, between all three tickets to the event and the hotel room I had already invested around 1k and still needed a ball gown and tea dress. So the search began! After scouring the internet for dresses that fit my vision and my plus sized body, I found two great deals on dresses, the only thing was they were final sale—non returnable! I also purchased a beefy strapless bra and some clip-in hair extensions. While I was still scrambling to find accessories, a petticoat, plus a book cart for all the books I was going to inevitably walk away with that weekend, I got an odd text in the writing group chat.
I’d shared a picture of the ball gown to the group chat the day it arrived because I was so excited that it fit (shopping online from a place I’d never heard of—risky!) and it was exactly what I was going for. The next night I got a text with condolences and promises to find me a place to wear it. I was, needless to say, confused. What do you mean find somewhere else to wear it?! A sense of dread washed over me and I ran to Instagram, the only place she could have seen anything. The very first post that appeared was the announcement from Fantastique Collection stating they were canceling the event. I sat there with my mouth open reading it over and over, going to the comments, and screenshotting the post in case it got deleted later. I shared the post with my husband who called me immediately. He was consolatory and got right to canceling the hotel and filling out the form I sent him for getting a refund through Eventbrite. Shout out to the people in the comments of that post who shared what to do since Fantastique Collection had implied that attendees wouldn’t receive a refund.
I took my frustration to social media and made a TikTok post that night from bed, bonnet and all. I received many condolences and commiserations from others who were just as blindsided. That video was unfortunately the way many found out for themselves it was canceled due to the announcement being made in the middle of the night and no email having been sent by the company, even now. The word about Dreamers & Readers’ cancellation spread like wildfire, even making it on to the local news. Authors, vendors and attendees all sharing their anger and frustration. The loss of money and potential income financially devastating to authors and vendors in particular.
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A shining light on this whole thing was the local bookish community stepping up immediately and organizing alternative events for the displaced festival goers. Several bookstores around Dallas and Fort Worth are hosting authors and vendors. There is now also a three day event that includes a ball that is free/low cost for D&R ticket holders. And tons of events from around the country honoring our tickets if we wanted to attend their events for free! I’m in aw of this community and plan to attend whatever I can!
If you’re wondering what you can do, please check out the list of authors and vendors and purchase what books and wares catch your eye, repost, like, and share the alternative events to spread the word, and mostly check out your local bookish community and help them thrive!
I was so horrified to hear the event got canceled without really any way to be made whole by the event organizer! I am glad there has been such an outpouring of support from the local book and author community, and I sincerely hope you enjoy the new events.