Icons Guide:
Writers Retreat | 
Offsite Event | 
Food Event | 
Coffee Event | 
Cash bar | 
Included in Festival Pass
- This event has passed.
34. The Big Idea – Despair and Hope: Finding Refuge in Canada *Sold Out!*
September 30, 2017 @ 6:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Join moderator Eric Friesen for a penetrating conversation with award-winning journalists and authors Carol Off and Doug Saunders, and debut novelist Danny Ramadan, about nations at war, the refugee experience of danger, displacement, disintegration, and intolerance, and the experience of those who try to help. They’ll discuss Canada’s track record of assistance and welcome, particularly in comparison with the US, Britain, and EU countries. Can we, and should we, do more to help? Guests of honour: Jamal Saeed, Rufaida Alakhabaz, Ray Argyle, and Deborah Windsor.
6:30 – 8:00 pm
Bellevue
Event Sponsor: KEYS
Sponsored by The Walrus
FESTIVAL TICKET INFO + PRICES 2019
Want more info?
View and download the digital Program Guide or Schedule-at-a-Glance!
Tickets can be purchased directly from the Grand Theatre Box Office online (click the ‘Buy Now’ ticket icon), in person at 218 Princess Street, or by phone (613-530-2050) until 6 pm on Tuesday, September 24, 2019.
Ticket prices are listed as Pre-Festival (purchased by 6 pm on Tuesday, September 24), and Festival (all tickets purchased once the Festival has begun):
Regular Onstage
General Admission $20 Adv/$22 Fest; Senior $18 Pre/$20 Fest
Festival Field Trip
General Admission $20 Adv/$22 Fest; Senior $18 Pre/$20 Fest; Student $5 Pre/ $8 Fest
Writers Retreat Classes General Admission $35 Pre/$40 Fest; Senior $32 Pre/$38 Fest
Robertson Davies Dinner, Book Lovers’ Lunch and The Long Table General Admission $45; Senior $40
Literary Pub (S)crawl General Admission $40 (includes 3 beverages; $27 (event only)
BUY 5 and SAVE – available for regular events OR Writers Retreat classes! Add EITHER 5 regular onstage OR 5 Writers Retreat tickets to your cart, change the price point to 5 AND SAVE and the discount will automatically be applied.
OFFSEASON EVENTS: View event description carefully for details on price, advance sale cut-offs, and venue.
FEES: All ticket prices include HST. Please be advised that the Grand Theatre Box Office will add a handling fee of $3.80/ticket.
TICKET PICK-UP: Any tickets that are not picked up at the Grand Theatre before 12 pm on Wednesday, September 25th will be brought to the onsite box office at the Holiday Inn. You may pick up your tickets at the Holiday Inn at any time during onsite box office hours (30 minutes before the first onsite event of the day til 15 minutes after the last event of the day).
During the festival, tickets are ONLY available onsite from the Festival Box Office on the main floor of the Holiday Inn Kingston Waterfront.
EXCHANGES and REFUNDS: We do not offer exchanges or refunds on tickets (except when an event is cancelled), so please plan before you buy. Latecomers will be seated at the discretion of KWF staff.
PHOTOGRAPHS: No flash photography, video recorders or tape recorders, please.