C.S. Lewis Festival slated for Sept. 15-18 in Petoskey

This weekend, the C.S. Lewis Festival will celebrate its 20th anniversary with three authors discussing their work.

The festival originally began in 2002 after a group of educators and leaders worked with Emmy Award-winning producer David Crouse to promote his biography on Lewis, a British writer and theologian, most well known for writing the Chronicles of Narnia series. This year’s festival will take place Sept. 15-18.

The festival is held in collaboration with arts, faith and education communities in Northern Michigan. Organizers said the event is a place for people to hold discussions and dialogue about common interest subjects between people from different backgrounds.

Since the start of the festival, more than 20,000 people have attended the events.

The first event is at 7 p.m. Thursday, where guests will be able to watch a film about Lewis and his journey from being an atheist to being a reluctant convert. The screening will be at the Harbor Springs Lyric Theatre and attendees are asked to make a free will donation.

On Friday afternoon, Ann Voskamp will be at McLean & Eaken Booksellers for a book signing. Voskamp is the author of four New York Times best-selling books. The signing will be from 2-4 p.m.

She’ll take the stage at 7:30 p.m. Friday for a keynote address, where she will discuss how Lewis relates and speaks to a 21st century woman. Festival co-founder Sarah Arthur will be interviewing Voskamp. Tickets to the event are free, but registration is still required. Tickets are available at cslewisfestival.org.

Saturday's seminars begin at 8:30 a.m. and run until 3 p.m. in the Great Lakes Center for the Arts community room.

The registration and welcome session goes until 9:15 a.m., and the first session has Voskamp speaking again about women and their relation to Lewis.

From 10:30-11:30 a.m. Carolyn Curtis, author and lecturer, will be speaking about Lewis and what his life reveals for today’s culture. Curtis’ discussion will be followed by an hour-long lunch.

Then, from 12:30-1:30 p.m., Arthur will discuss Lewis’ book during a lecture titled, “Not Today, Jack: How to argue lovingly with your favorite (dead) author.”

A round table moderated by Arthur will follow, where scholars will discuss the day’s events and discussions while taking questions from the audience.

The festival will close with a wrap-up session from 2:45 to 3 p.m., where details about the 2023 festival will be announced.

For those interested in a final sermon service, there will be a service at 10 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 18 at the First Presbyterian Church of Harbor Springs.

Registration for the events can be done at www.cslewisfestival.org/registrations. Voskamp’s first event will cost $50 along with a copy of her book “Waymaker: Finding the Way to the Life You’ve Always Dreamed of.” The full day Saturday costs $60 with lunch, or $20 if you’re a student. If you only plan to come for half of the day, it’ll cost $30.

The festival is a nonprofit organization run with support from donors.

For more information on the event, visit cslewisfestival.org.

This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: C.S. Lewis Festival slated for Sept. 15-18 in Petoskey