In 2015, a small group of dedicated fans met with four of their favorite authors for a weekend in New England, and a legend was born…

Featuring Jeremy Robinson
Kane Gilmour
Xander Weaver
Kesava Anderson
& Dan Delgado (narrator)

Sep 12 – Sep 14, 2025

What IS Robinsonfest?

Robinsonfest started in 2015. A group of very determined readers pressured bestselling author Jeremy Robinson—a near hermit-like introvert—into holding a weekend-long gathering. We were just thirteen people back then, and the first Fest was held in Portsmouth, NH. The weekend was full of great food, good fun, and a lot of laughter. We decided to make it an annual thing, and it grew each year. In 2020 we sadly put the event on pause for the pandemic, but Robinsonfest returned in 2023 and 2024. This year we’re making the event international by going to…Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada for our Tenth Anniversary!

Robinsonfest isn’t like a standard author signing or event. The Fest will still be a relaxed affair. (Jeremy will probably be in shorts and T-shirt the whole time.) We’ll get together for the weekend. Go see and do some cool things around town, and we’ll have a big signing/question & answer session with the authors. Then we’ll take a relaxed afternoon to hang out with friends or just explore town.

You’ll have plenty of time to interact with the authors: Jeremy Robinson, Kane Gilmour, Kesava Anderson, and Xander Weaver are confirmed so far, along with audiobook narrator Dan Delgado, but we might have even more! You’ll have ample opportunities to ask them all your burning questions.

This year we’re crossing an international border to Niagara Falls in Canada! Yes, we know there’s a Niagara Falls in the United States as well, but we think the Canadian side offers more opportunities for fun. Yes, you’ll need to have a passport to cross the border. But we’ve given people plenty of time to take care of those sorts of things, and we’ll have details about them below.

The dates are Friday, Sep 12th – Sunday, Sep 14th. The bulk of the activities will take place on Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning we’ll be having breakfast and saying goodbye, so if you can’t stay that long, you’re not missing that much.

What’s all this about a Passport?

Yeah. Robinsonfest this year is in another country—Canada! That means a border crossing for Americans to get into Canada, and another one to get back into the United States once the event is over. (And for you lovelies attending the Fest from abroad, you already knew you’d need a passport.) If you were not previously aware, the actual Niagara Falls is a group of three waterfalls that straddle the border between upstate New York and Ontario, Canada. Horseshoe Falls, the largest, reaches right across the border. There’s a bridge that goes over the river from one country to the next.

If you’ve never been out of the United States before, here’s how it goes:

You need a passport. More info about that below.
You do not need a visa to enter Canada as an American citizen.
When you get to the border, you’ll meet some Canadian Border Patrol folks. Be polite. Give them your passport when asked, answer whatever questions they have about where you’re going and what you’re doing entering Canada. They will likely put a stamp in your passport, hand it back to you, and wish you a pleasant stay in Canada. (But see point #5 below, because it also applies when entering Canada.)
When it’s time to return to the United States, the process will likely be very similar, except you’ll be meeting American border guards, and they will also want to know whether you bought anything in Canada beyond the typical tourist stuff. If you did, you might have to pay a ‘duty’ (which is like a tax) on your purchases. So maybe don’t buy any furniture while you’re over there.
Going one way or the other, you might be randomly selected for a more thorough search. Go along with all instructions. They might want to search your person, your bags, or your vehicle. Don’t bring weapons, drugs, agricultural products, or things you intend to sell, and you’ll have nothing to worry about. Be polite and helpful through the process and it will speed you along.
You’ll get another stamp, and assuming you’re not trying to bring any contraband stuff across the border, you’ll be on your way. (If you want to know all the technicalities of what you can and cannot bring across borders, there are, of course, countless pages of government-ese on Border Patrol websites for you to peruse at your leisure.)
One final warning for first-time international travelers. Border guards from all nations have had their senses of humor surgically removed. Do NOT test these people. No jokes. Just be polite, and you’ll be fine. Joke around, and you might end up in a jail cell for a few days, experience a full body-cavity search, and have your entire vehicle disassembled to check for contraband.

That Sounds Scary. Is it usually that bad?

No. Kane has travelled the world and lived in or visited over 40 countries. He’s never had a body-cavity search. His vehicle was never disassembled. He’s been patted down (like at an airport) and had his bag searched (also like at an airport). One time crossing the US/Canada border, his vehicle was lightly searched. His experience is that Canadian border guards have been extremely pleasant, and US border guards have been less so, but his crossings have usually been easy and quick.

Tell me about this Passport thing?

Right. Go to the US passport website: https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/passports.html

Follow the steps. You’ll need your birth certificate. Fill out your application. You might need to make an appointment with your local post office to get a photo and have them collect all the materials. Send your documents and money off. Typical processing time is 4-6 weeks these days. You can pay extra for an expedited process, which might make it in 2-3 weeks. In either case, if you plan to come to Robinsonfest, don’t delay in getting your passport if you don’t already have an active one.

Oh yes, there’s one more thing: If you’re a resident of Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, or Washington (state), you can get an “Enhanced” Driver’s License from your local DMV. Prices vary by state—but they’ll be cheaper and faster to obtain than a US passport. An Enhanced Driver’s license will be sufficient for crossing by land or sea (only—not by air) into Canada or Mexico (only). Yep, if you’re the lucky resident of one of those states, and you get an enhanced license, AND you’re planning to drive into Canada, you can use it for the border crossings rather than a passport.

What is the hotel situation?

We tried to get a reasonable rate at a place that was centrally located and could handle our group’s size, and we did amazingly well! Everyone has different tastes when it comes to a hotel, and different budgets. Activities on Saturday morning will be at the meeting room of the Courtyard by Mariott, Niagara Falls (5950 Victoria Ave, Niagara Falls, ON L2G 3L7, Canada). We have a great rate at that hotel: it averages across Thursday, Friday, and Saturday rates to $183 (Canadian) a night! (That’s around $130 a night in US currency at the moment, but exchange rates do fluctuate.) We have a special group reservation code you can use. That info will be sent to you after you register, if you’re interested in it. You could also choose to stay at any number of inns, B&Bs, or hotels in or near town. Most of the places in the Downtown are an easy walk to and from the Mariott.

HOWEVER, we will have a very limited number of rooms available at the hotel for our special discounted rate. These will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. Note that the hotel requires a $25 (CAN) a day parking fee. If you are interested in one of the Mariott rooms at our reduced rate, just say so when registering, and we’ll quickly notify those who can receive these rates. We’ll also make an announcement in TRIBE when the discounted rooms are gone. We expect these rooms will go very quickly.

What is the parking situation?

Much of downtown Niagara Falls is comprised of small roads. We will be walking to and from all of our activities or taking Ubers. Parking is also ridiculously expensive in most of the downtown area, like with most major metropolitan cities in the US and Canada.

What is the food situation?

You are on your own for all meals. Making restaurant reservations for a group that might be as large as fifty people would be impossible. So, we will all just break from our activities and go our own ways for meals. Niagara Falls (on the Canadian side) has dozens of fantastic restaurants for all budgets, all within easy walking distance between the locations of our activities. We’ve left ample time for these food breaks in the itinerary, as you’ll see.

What about the ‘Dinner Raffle’ thing?

For dinners, we thought it might be fun to have a Raffle for each night, where for $20 extra, above the cost of your registration fee, you would be entered into a random drawing (for each night). The winners of the drawing will get to eat dinner with the authors (Jeremy, Kane, Kesava, Xander, and any other authors who join us, along with our audio narrator Dan). One winner each night. Yes, if you win, you can bring your spouse or significant other, if they are joining you at the Fest. The money from the raffle will go toward the expenses for the Fest (including your own dinner, which the winner will have paid for them), and to Jeremy’s and Kane’s expenses in getting to and from Niagara Falls. Note that even if you opt to not buy any raffle tickets, and you don’t win either of the two nights, you’ll still have plenty of time to talk to the authors at the activities and at the book signing!

The Raffle Winners will be notified well in advance that you won, and where we are eating, so you can definitely plan to be there with us for dinner on your respective night. Raffle Winners will be seated at Jeremy’s table with him. Unlike with previous years, we will not be inviting the entire group to the dinner. That’s not a slight against the group, but an opportunity for the Raffle Winner to have a more intimate conversation with Jeremy and the other authors, rather than having to potentially shout over a large crowd’s roaring conversation and laughter. No, we don’t know which restaurants we’ll be eating at yet. But once we do, if you want to join us at that restaurant, you’re welcome to, if the place has available seating. But it won’t be at one giant table, like we tried to do last year.

What about transportation?

Transportation to and from Niagara Falls will be on your own. We expect most people will want to drive to Niagara with their own vehicles or a rental car (if you’re flying into Buffalo or Toronto). There are airport shuttle options from Buffalo airport to Niagara Falls. But you’ll need to do that research on your own, as there are too many options to cover here.

What about illness precautions?

If you are ill (with COVID or anything else that’s contagious), please do NOT come to the Fest, obviously. Jeremy is only able to work at the speed he does because he doesn’t usually get sick. Two years back, a few of us went away with Covid, and it crushed us for weeks.

What will we be doing?

It’s Niagara Falls! Obviously, we’ll be taking a boat ride to go see the Falls and get soaked with spray and mist! We’ll also be hitting the massively touristy area of Clifton Hill, which boasts all manner of carnival atmosphere, rides, games, and entertainments. Chief among those, and of interest to this group, are the SkyWheel Ferris Wheel and the Niagara Speedway go-kart multi-level track. We’ll pack all that into the Friday, because on Saturday, we’ll have the book signing and author question & answer session in the morning. We know some folks are pretty introverted and have a hard time asking questions in a public venue, so we’ll also have an online area where people can get their questions down in advance, and the authors will answer them at the event. Oh, and if that isn’t enough, the town of Niagara Falls puts on a Fireworks show at 10pm each night for your entertainment. If you time it right, you could be on the Ferris Wheel, 175 in the air during the fireworks!

Finally, we’ve heard from past attendees that the pace is sometimes just too frantic and too packed with activities. Many of the folks attending Robinsonfest are people who have been before, and who are just as interested in catching up with the friends they made last time, as they are with hanging out with the authors! So, Saturday afternoon will be all unstructured down time, so friends can catch up, hang out, and relax.

Is there a registration fee, and if so, what does the money go to?

There is. Registration is $250.00. This money goes toward the cost of the meeting space at the hotel. We’ll be using a large meeting space at the hotel for our author signing on Saturday. The money will also go toward a few other little things we’ll surprise you with at the event. We will also be covering the fees for participants at the Boat Ride and getting everyone a ‘Fun Pass’ for Clifton Hill!

Does Jeremy Robinson make a profit from Robinsonfest?

Nope. Most years he’s lost money on the event, and some years he’s broken even. If there is extra, we’ll come up with some kind of fun way that it goes back to the fans after all costs are paid. Making money isn’t the point of the gathering—it’s just to hang out with readers, friends, and fans.

What is the weather like in Niagara Falls in September?

Highs are usually around 70°F (21°C) with lows usually around 54° F (12°C) in September. So, it should be pleasant days with a gentle breeze, and cool nights. That said, it could rain on any or all of our days. It might be clear or cloudy. That time of year the sunrise should be around 7:00am and sunset around 7:30pm. There are never any guarantees with weather. Be prepared for rain and windy, and let’s hope the weather cooperates. And keep in mind for Friday afternoon, you will definitely get wet on the boat ride. They give passengers disposable ponchos, but you’ll still get wet.

What will we do for the outdoor activities if it rains?

Err. Something? Not sure yet. If it’s just a light rain, that won’t really affect our activities much, and it does not affect the boat at all—you were going to get wet anyway. If it’s a downpour, the go-kart track would possibly be replaced with an indoor activity. We’ll figure that out and let you know long before the event.

Do we have to do all the activities?

Nope. You can go to all of them or skip some of them, as you see fit, but the registration fee will remain the same.

How much will the activities cost?

The fees will be determined by the activity vendors themselves, but the basic costs for each of these things are below.

The SkyWheel Ferris wheel at Clifton Hill is covered by your registration fee.
The Niagara Speedway go-kart track is $14 (CAN) per 5 minute race.
There are also several other activities, games, and attractions in the Clifton Hill area, and prices vary per attraction, but several of them will be covered by your Fun Pass (included in the Registration fee).
The Hornblower Boat Ride is covered by your registration fee.

Can I buy Jeremy’s (and the other authors’) books at the fest?

In the past, the answer was yes. But for this Fest, the answer is NO.

Why? International borders. It is usually already a huge hassle for us to take book orders and bring books for everyone. But we’ve done it—and sometimes that’s been the difference between Jeremy losing money or breaking even on the event! But with an international border crossing, and international sales laws, taxes, and duties, etc., it just makes no sense for the authors.

So, we encourage you to buy copies of any books you’d like signed ahead of time and bring them with you to the event. So long as you’re not bringing an entire crate of books, you won’t have any problems with the border crossing. The authors will happily sign books for you at the event (for free). Jeremy’s latest, ARTIFACT, will have just been released in August, so we expect a lot of you will want to bring a copy of that book to be signed. Kane will have a hardcover short story collection out this summer, long before the event. Kesava Anderson’s title THE LEAVER’S CODE will be his newest, out before the Fest. Xander Weaver’s latest, SLEEPWALKER, is available now. And we’ll alert everyone to new releases from other authors as well.

Will there be a Robinsonfest T-shirt?

Of course. It will be available to buy at TeePublic. We’ll let you know when the design is uploaded. TeePublic runs sales almost every month, so don’t pay full price; wait for a sale. You can buy a shirt even if you’re not going to the Fest. You don’t need to buy a shirt if you don’t want to—even if you are going to the Fest. It’s not a uniform. You don’t have to wear it. We just made one because in the past, people have asked about them.

Are there rules for Robinsonfest?

Yes. Just two.

There is a lot of political, religious, and cultural division in the world today. Please understand that the other participants of Robinsonfest might come from any (or every) other point on the continuum of any divisive issue from you. We try to leave all that division behind at our Robinsonfest weekends, and instead just focus on fun, food, and story. We ask participants to leave your agendas at home and pack your patience instead, for a weekend of laughter and friendship.

The second issue is this: 2025 will be the first time Robinsonfest is going international. Please understand that there is a stereotypical notion of the ‘ugly American tourist’—which refers to ugly behavior rather than appearance. We will all be guests in Canada, and the impression you make on the Canadian people is not just about you, but also about the group labelled ‘Robinsonfest,’ and about Jeremy—who the group is named after. Let’s all be on our best behavior, illustrating patience, humor, and good manners. Maybe we can help dispel that stereotype some.

Will there be a place where we can connect with others who are coming…

Yes. We set up a dedicated micro-group on Facebook explicitly for the purpose of passing information to participants before the Fest, and so they can network with each other—and also so we’re not cluttering up the regular TRIBE group with Fest related concerns. You’ll be able to arrange rideshares and potentially find roommates and so forth. Once you’ve registered, we’ll send you information on joining that Robinsonfest 2025 FB group.

What if I have other questions that haven’t been answered here?

Send an e-mail to Kane Gilmour, the organizer of Robinsonfest: ka**@ka*********.com. He’ll be happy to help.

Not convinced? Check out the post event wrap up from 2024!

2025 ITINERARY

Friday:

9:00am Meet and Greet in the Lobby

9:30am Head to Clifton Hill

10:00am SkyWheel, Speedway, Fun & Games at Clifton Hill

12:00pm Lunch (on your own)

2:30pm Head to the Cruise’s Main Ticket Plaza

3:30pm ‘Niagara City Cruise’ Boat Ride to the Falls!

4:30pm Head back to the hotel to dry off!

6:00pm Dinner (on your own; Raffle Winner dines with Jeremy)

10:00pm Niagara Falls Fireworks (Optional)

Saturday:

9:00am Author Signing!

10:30am Question and Answer session

12:00pm Lunch (on your own)

1:00pm Unstructured Down Time

6:00pm Dinner (on your own; Raffle Winner dines with Jeremy)

10:00pm Niagara Falls Fireworks (Optional)

Sunday:

8:00am Breakfast at Stacked Pancake (Optional)

SPECIAL GUESTS

Jeremy Robinson – New York Times and #1 Audible bestselling author of Infinite, Singularity, and Nemesis and over eighty novels and novellas translated into 14 languages he can’t read. www.bewareofmonsters.com

Daniel Delgado is the audio-book narrator for Jeremy’s INSOMNIA collection of short stories, for several of Xander Weaver’s thrillers, for Rick Chesler, and others. Dan lives on Long Island, where he has also taught high school for over 20 years. www.d2voice.com

Kesava Anderson – critically acclaimed debut author of The Leaver’s Code and City of Halos. With a background in psychiatry and a passion for storytelling, he brings a unique blend of heart, science, and suspense to his writing. themanthemyththedevil.com

Kane Gilmour – international bestselling author of The Crypt of Dracula and the co-author of Viking Tomorrow and Omega. He lives in Vermont and brews craft beer.
www.kanegilmour.com

Xander Weaver – author of the Cyrus Cooper thriller series including Dangerous Minds and Halon-Seven. He lives in northern Illinois. www.xanderweaver.com