The 2026 Dick-Fest is Coming!

If there is one overarching change to the community of Philip K Dick scholars and fans that I've witnessed in my quarter centruy of participation it's that we've all met and discovered we like hanging out. This is the reason for the increase in frequency of Dick-Fests, which have multiplied from once a decade, to once every three years, to their now biennial cadence. 

Case in point, Dick-Fest 2026 (they're trying to take the more mature road and call it PKD Fest, but we know what it is) is scheduled for August 20-23 in Orange County!

Here's what you need to know: 

It's free. 

Now, having said that, there is a registration option that allows you to donate just $20 and walk away with a grab bag of PKD-related goodies. There is also a festival t-shirt you can buy. 

But basically, rank consumerism aside, you can show up at this Fest and listen to some talks about PKD, witness some of PKD's old friends and acquaintances (like Gregg Rickman and Bill Sarill!) wax nostalgic, take in the first ever Pink Beam awards wherein we stroke our many Dick-related achievements (Oh, grow up!). There's even a table reading of a Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch script (which of course you never really leave). 

Not only is the Point Reyes Reality Investigation Center a full-on sponsor of the Fest, but I'll be there talking about Phil's life in Point Reyes Station as well as selling PRRIC merch, including a special collection of t-shirts, more on this soon. 

You can thank David Agranoff, host of the DickHeads Podcast on YouTube, for his tireless efforts to assemble a ragtag cadre of authors and weirdos to talk Dick for a couple of days. 

Check out the Fest website here, replete with schedules, mailing list sign-ups, and more! 

But wait, there's more! 

On August 26 the Point Reyes Reality Investigation Center will be hosting a post-Fest-adjacent dinner in Point Reyes Station with special guest Bill Sarill, who not only surfed Dick's couch, but, according to a note of at the beginning of Dick's 1970 novel A Maze of Death, helped brainstorm the novel's theological dimensions during late night sessions "to develop an abstract, logical system of religious thought, based on the arbitrary postulate that God exists."

RSVP for the dinner here. ($25 donation suggested, but no one turned away for lack of funds).