Your Visit

Visitor Guide

Plan your journey carefully. Festival travel depends on ferry capacity, weather, and timed programme access.

Travel Advisory

Ferry and weather updates are published in real time. Always re-check your transfer window before departure.

Robben Island

Robben Island lies just off the coast of Cape Town, yet it occupies a central place in global moral history. Over centuries, it has been used as a place of banishment, imprisonment, and isolation, most famously during apartheid, but also as a site of extraordinary intellectual, political, and ethical resistance.

Today, Robben Island is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a place of pilgrimage, learning, and reflection. Hosting the Invitational on the island affirms its role not only as a site of remembrance, but as a living space for dialogue, creativity, and global encounter.

Robben Island Museum (Festival Venue)

The Robben Island Museum offers an exceptional setting for a literary festival rooted in history, conscience, and imagination. With its headquarters at the V&A Waterfront and custodianship of Robben Island, the Museum holds together the journey to the island and the meanings that emerge there.

Its buildings and landscapes carry the memory of profound intellectual exchange forged under impossible conditions. As a festival venue, the Museum provides a rare convergence of beauty, purpose, and historical depth, where literature is encountered in direct conversation with history, within a globally recognised heritage environment.

Ferry Planning

Primary departure point: Nelson Mandela Gateway, V&A Waterfront, Cape Town.
Arrive at least 60 minutes before your ferry slot for security and boarding checks.
Severe weather may alter sailing times; check updates on the homepage status banner.

What to Bring

Photo ID and ticket confirmation (digital or printed).
Comfortable walking shoes and layered clothing for changing weather.
Water bottle, sunscreen, and required personal medication.
Notebook or e-reader for sessions and learning circles.