Around the Town
Magic happens when you least expect it.
In the weeks leading up to and across the festival weekend, the twin towns of Daylesford and Hepburn Springs will come alive with a series of interactive, serendipitous activations. Keep your eyes peeled and your mind open—you never know where you might stumble upon a moment of quiet reading, a collective typewriter or a headline that stops you in your tracks.
Community Book Swap
Join us at the Festival Hub for our Community Book Swap, where we invite you to browse our dedicated Adult and Kids tables, swap your pre-loved favourites, and discover a new treasure to take home.
How it works:
Bring a book: Drop off a pre-loved book you think someone else would enjoy.
Find a treasure: Explore our community-curated collection and pick something new.
Support the future: While the swap is free, gold coin donations are warmly welcomed to help us celebrate our 25th Anniversary in 2027.
Visit us at the Festival Hub
Wednesday 26 August 4:30pm–7:00pm
Saturday 29 Aug & Sunday 30 Aug: 9:30am–4:30pm
Proudly supported by Hepburn Energy and Paradise Bookshop.
Radical Curiousity
Words in Winter, in partnership with Radical Fields, invites you to slow down, look a little closer at the familiar, and tap into your sense of wonder with Radical Curiousity.
This interactive, public art event is all about celebrating the unexpected connections that happen when we share our curiousity with one another.
Through a series of playful public interactions, festival-goers will contribute their own unique observations, questions and moments of inspiration. These collective responses will serve as the raw material for a live, evolving artwork that grows with every participant and that will pop up throughout Daylesford and Hepburn in August.
The Unstable Draft: A Collective Palimpsest
Conceived by local artist Leonie Leivenzon, this artwork invites you to sit at a typewriter and add your voice—whether you choose to add a fresh line, alter what is already there or overwrite previous marks.
As the draft evolves, words will overlap, meanings will drift and the text will shift from legibility into a beautiful, layered abstraction.
Agent of News
Keep an eye out for the headlines as these will be appearing as quiet "interventions" across Daylesford.
These aren’t your typical daily papers; they are a series of striking A2 ink drawings by local artist Paul Mason, designed to capture the tradition of the street-side newsstand and draw attention to current political and social issues.
The Society of Silent Readers
In the lead up to the inaugural meeting of The Society of Silent Readers (TSSR) at Paradise Bookshop during Words in Winter, we’ve partnered with cafes and businesses across Daylesford and Hepburn Springs to create "Silent Reading Spots".
You're invited to choose from stacks of books and slow down, disconnect and dive into a story while you enjoy your morning brew.
Curated by Paradise Bookshop.
Words Rising
When you buy a loaf from Two Fold Bakehouse, you’re supporting more than just a bakery—you’re investing in a community. Each loaf celebrates a network of local farmers and millers working with new and ancient grains, telling a story of risk, experimentation and harmony with nature.
This August, as part of Words in Winter 2026, Two Fold Bakehouse is adding a literary spark to your Sunday Railway Market visits. On Sunday 23 August, every purchase from the stall comes with a free gift: a hand-selected poem, story or recipe to feed your mind while you enjoy your bread.
We’ve also hidden two Golden Tickets inside the bread wraps! Two lucky buyers will win a double pass to a Town Hall Talk or Convent Conversation of their choice.
Buy a loaf and may the yeast be ever in your favour!
