There's a YA book event but I'm 26!

[Justine (Milkz)]

There is a festival called YAllWest that I've seen around instagram. I'm thinking about going, but I'm 26 and never been to a book festival. Do you know if there are people 20+ who regularly attend YA book events?

[The Book Crusader]

Ever heard of a toy called My Little Pony? Created for young girls, it has spawned four generations of television shows. And do you know who their most hardcore fans are? If you said little girls, then you are mistaken.

Also, check the reviews for any popular young adult book, and it is safe to say that most, if not all, of the top reviews will be by someone who's 20+.

And let's not forgot about the Potterheads of all ages whom attended the various events. Or the Twilight moms (which is a bullshit double standard, considering if the situations were reversed and this was dads saying how much they loved Shailene Woodley at a Divergent premiere, you can damn well bet they'd be getting tackled by the police) attending the movie premieres.

When you really stop to think about it, it's really a safe bet that every fandom's hardcore fans are adults, since kids and teens don't tend to have the money or means to travel to conventions and such.

[cali 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧]

^ woah mate, take a breather. I'm feeling a lot of pent up frustration from other issues… (ps I don't really think anybody would go as berserk as you may believe about Shai Woodley and the dad who's a fan… also; the my little pony insight is way too broad and actually would be better as an example about the perverted double "standards" you mentioned)

To answer the question; woo! Go have fun! Just because it's YA doesn't mean it's exclusive to YA readers. I've been told that YA just means that the protag and characters are YA. That's all. I think Hank Green made a video on vlogbrother's about it. Plus; have a look at all the popular booktubers. They're basically all post-college! Though, debatably, act younger. On screen.

Go have fun! 26 is perfectly fine. (Dymocks, the big bookstore local to me, classifies YA as anywhere between 13-24!) Even though I said statements above generalising it's acceptable to any age, as a teen myself, I would be skeptical if older people were roaming around. But I mean much older people. However if they were smiling and enjoying the YA scene; then sure, I wouldn't take a second glance! I think I'd only note the more… grumpy, older visitors.

Enjoy the festival! I wish we had more YA fests in Australia :( Alas; nope.

[cali 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧]

(PPS; the example about Shai Woodley doesn't even relate to the medium about books. This discussion would have to compare movies, naturally. Including this in respect to YA readers and acceptability don't really relate.)

[Lindsay♫SingerOfStories♫]

Definitely! There are readers and reviewers of YA books all over the place so if you were to go, you would definitely not go alone! PLUS, if nothing else, someone would have to "chaperone" all of the "YA" kids. But that's totally not the case anyway. Much of the YA-reading population out there are 20/30-somethings, as well as the bookstagrammers you are following. If they are talking about it, they'll be there. No worries. ;)

[The Book Crusader]

Cal (Cal's YA Reads) wrote: "(PPS; the example about Shai Woodley doesn't even relate to the medium about books. This discussion would have to compare movies, naturally. Including this in respect to YA readers and acceptabilit..."

Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't Divergent a book before it was a movie? If there was a Divergent convention or gathering, it wouldn't just be for fans of the movie franchise, would it?

Regardless, the point I made, and stand by 150%, is that most, if not all, fandoms—and by that I mean all fandoms, not just book fandoms—most hardcore fans are adults, because they are the ones who possess the money and means to travel to conventions and such. I do not (and will not) have to only reference books to make that point.

And I won't get into it on here, but yes, Twilight moms is a colossal double standard. As a former contributor to fanfiction.net, I witnessed more than a few instances of 40+ women (many whom had children of their own) lusting over a guy who will physically be 17 for all eternity. If you don't want to take my word for it, feel free to Google "Twilight moms double standard." There are quite a few articles on the subject.

[cali 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧]

Your point about Twilight mums is interesting-- I, too, find it problematic when adults lust over YA love interests (in anything-- not just Twilight). (Blurgh)

But your comment about Shia Woodley is still "sort of" invalid. You're talking about movies, while this festival is YA books. This regards the fans of the books: not movies. They need to be regarded separately, it's significant. (For a number of reasons, including a topic we just discussed about Twilight mums: in the movie, Shai portrays an 18 y.o. adult).

[cali 𖡼.𖤣𖥧𖡼.𖤣𖥧]

And I agree-- to the person who asked; you will probably find heaps of adults your age there! Because they were young enough to see the emergence of extremely successful YA books, thus continue to have an interest, but the money and availability to go to the festival :D

[Justine (Milkz)]

Thanks for the feedback everyone!

[Irina's]

Justine wrote: "Thanks for the feedback everyone!"

Hi Justine! I'm 26 myself and I looooove YA! YA refers to the book plot and characters, not the readers, my mom is 56 and also loves YA books.

So if you can and want to go to the Festival, do it! I assure you there'll be a lot of people our age.

Have fun!

[[deleted user]]

Justine wrote: "There is a festival called YAllWest that I've seen around instagram. I'm thinking about going, but I'm 26 and never been to a book festival. Do you know if there are people 20+ who regularly attend..."

I think most of the time, YA books are probably better for older adults than those in their teens. Good, evil, right, and wrong are the same issues for the young as well as the adult reader.