Ashland Mystery Festival

Sep 13, 2025 | 2025 Articles, Mysteryrat's Maze, Travel

by Ellie Alexander

Have you ever wanted to sleuth your way through a charming small town and step into the pages of a cozy mystery novel?

How do you feel about unraveling clues with bestselling authors? Sipping tea and eating dainty petit fours and finger sandwiches while debating whodunit? Or racing through town with a magnifying glass in hand to piece together a crime scene?

Well, this is your chance! Welcome to the third annual Ashland Mystery Festival, taking place from October 16-19.

From a past Ashland Mystery Festival

This immersive four-day event began on a whim thanks to my long-running Bakeshop Mysteries, which are set in the hamlet of Ashland, Oregon. Over the years of writing the series, I’ve received countless messages from readers venturing to Ashland for the first time because they’ve fallen in love with my fictional version, and they’re eager to figure out how much of what I write is real. Spoiler alert: Ashland is even sweeter in real life than on the page.

In any event, a fortuitous conversation with the owner of Paddington Station (London Station if you’ve read my books) and the director of Travel Ashland led to building out the cozy mystery festival of my dreams. This isn’t a conference or convention—it’s a fully immersive festival designed to put you in the center of the action.

From a past Ashland Mystery Festival

From the moment you arrive, you’ll feel like you’ve walked straight into the pages of your favorite novel. Ashland’s downtown plaza transforms into a living mystery, complete with hidden clues scattered down alleyways, tucked into nooks and crannies in shops and restaurants, and even lurking in unexpected places like Lithia Park. There’s an immediate sense of camaraderie as readers from all over the country and even other parts of the globe stroll through the plaza, scanning storefront windows and chatting with fellow sleuths in search of their next clue.

From a past Ashland Mystery Festival

The festival opens with a lively reception where readers and writers mingle over appetizers and murderous mocktails and cocktails, testing their knowledge in a spirited trivia game that spans from Sherlock Holmes to Agatha Christie and everything in between. It’s your chance to get up close and personal with the featured authors and make new bookish friends.

Over the course of the weekend, panels dive into everything from Murder Mystery Hour, where you get to craft a story live with the pros, to the secrets behind publishing. Authors pull back the curtain on their craft, while you get a front row seat to conversations that are equal parts insightful and laugh-out-loud entertaining. There is literally something for everyone—haunted walking tours, plot-twist showdowns, flash fiction contests, mystery cooking classes, interactive dinners complete with a crime you have to solve, and endless opportunities to meet up with authors and fellow readers.

Ellie Alexander at a past Ashland Mystery Festival

In between sessions, you can duck into a café for a cardamom latte, wander through the park to take in the stunning flush of fall colors, or even catch a production under the stars at the outdoor Elizabethan theater at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, just like my sleuth, Juliet.

From a past Ashland Mystery Festival

By the time the final toast is raised, you’ll leave with a stack of signed books, new friends, and hopefully memories that will last a lifetime. So consider this your personal invitation to step into a story, live out your mystery-loving dreams, and come be part of a community where everyone belongs.

It’s time to get cozy in Ashland!
XO,
Ellie

For more information, visit: travelashland.com/ashland-mystery-fest

Check out other mystery articles, reviews, book giveaways & mystery short stories in our mystery section. And join our mystery Facebook group to keep up with everything mystery we post, and have a chance at some extra giveaways. Also listen to our new mystery podcast where mystery short stories and first chapters are read by actors! They are also available on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, and Spotify.

Ellie Alexander is a bestselling author with nearly 50 published books to her name, including titles with Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, Kensington, and Storm Publishing. She is a voracious storyteller and a lover of words and all things bookish. Ellie believes that stories have the power to transport and transform us. Her goal is to tell stories that provide points of connection, escape, and understanding.