Sydney 2025: Join us!

Hold the date!

From Saturday 14 to Sunday 15 June, 2025 – a week after the International Storytelling Conference, and a week before Supanova Comic Con – the Australian Fairy Tale Society will host its eleventh conference.

This inspiration to see the world in fresh new ways comes with an opportunity for members and new friends to gather and share old stories, and new ideas, performances, academic talks, panel discussions and workshops, plus sales of book and art.

To celebrate the character of Sydney as a water city, where harbour and rivers form shared spaces, thoroughfares, and barriers as well, our theme is:

Over Water: Voyages in fairy tales, and voyages of fairy tales – how fairy tales have travelled across the seas from other parts of the world to make their home here.

Under Water: The many meanings that lie beneath fairy tales, and the underwater portals to other worlds that exist within the stories, as well as how we experience them.

Magical and Healing Waters: Water of Life and Water of Death, Rapunzel’s tears and three drops of blood, watermills and bridges, bathing pools and wishing wells, and the sweat of effort to reach the hero’s destiny.

Our venue will be Prince Henry Centre, Little Bay, Sydney. See you there!

2024 Conference Bursary

Greetings, fairytalers!

Melbourne is currently in the midst of creating the amazing Once and Future Tales conference on August 3-4.  Register here

We love getting together in person to share ideas, and enjoy each others’ company and because we are a national Society with a sprinkling of international members, some of you will be travelling considerable distance to join us.  

To make that a little easier for an existing AFTS member, we offer a bursary of up to $450 to pay for transport and accommodation and the helping hand of a local ‘fairy godmother/father’ to help you find your way around Melbourne.  

We want to offer this opportunity to someone who is 

  • part of our community
  • might need a boost to cover the costs of getting here
  • will use the chance of going to the conference to continue to invest in our Society.

If this is you, please apply on this form by 10pm Sunday 7 July. 

Good luck!
Australian Fairy Tale Society committee