RIVENDELL RETRO BOOK FAIR IS BACK!
📚 Rivendell Retro Book Fair – A Nostalgic Night of Books & Fun!
✨ The book fair you loved as a kid is BACK… and this time, you're old enough for cocktails!
Join us on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at Room 22 at Dunlop Street Diner in Downtown Barrie for our 3rd Rivendell Retro Book Fair, bringing back all the magic, excitement, and nostalgia of your childhood school book fair—with a grown-up twist!
Step back in time and browse thousands of second-hand books, timeless classics, nostalgic favourites, hidden gems, and all your favourite bookish accessories. Sip on a book fair-inspired cocktail or mocktail, enjoy delicious bites from a specially curated menu, and rediscover the excitement of finding your next great read!
🌟 NEW & EXCITING THIS YEAR!
📖 Local Author Spotlight: Discover books by talented local authors from Barrie and surrounding communities, and maybe find your next favourite writer!
🎁 VIP Community Partners: We're teaming up with amazing local businesses to bring extra surprises, goodies, and exclusive giveaways to our VIP experience!
⭐ Two VIP Class Times: Double the excitement with specially curated VIP book releases at both 5:00 PM and 6:30 PM! Each VIP session will have its own fresh selection of sought-after books and hidden treasures, along with VIP swag bags, exclusive perks, and a chance to win our VIP Grand Prize!
🕒 Choose Your "Class Time!"
Just like the school book fairs you remember, select your class time to enter, then stay as long as you'd like!
VIP Class Times: 5:00 PM & 6:30 PM
Regular Class Times: 5:30 PM, 6:00 PM, 7:00 PM & 7:30 PM
Whether you're flying solo, bringing your favourite book-loving friend, or gathering your whole crew of page-turners, this is the perfect nostalgic night out for book lovers!
❤️ Shop Books. Support Local. Give Back.
A portion of every ticket sold will be donated to the Barrie Literacy Council, helping support literacy in our community. Together, our first two Retro Book Fairs have already raised nearly $3,000, and we're excited to make an even bigger impact with our third event!
📚 Browse, Sip, Shop & FIND YOUR STORY!
Don't miss this one-of-a-kind evening filled with books, nostalgia, community, and a little book fair magic!
Event Details:
📅 Tuesday, December 1, 2026
📍 Room 22 at Dunlop Street Diner, Downtown Barrie
🕔 Doors open at 5:00 PM | Event ends at 8:30 PM
🎟️ Regular Admission: $15 | VIP Admission: $25
Tickets are limited, so grab your favourite class time before the bell rings! 🔔
Get your tickets here:
Holiday Reads
DOES RIVENDELL BOOKS PURCHASE BOOKS?
Yes, we do! See our guidelines below to assist you in navigating our Store Credit and Cash purchasing options.
NO APPOINTMENT REQUIRED- Less than 10 books for store credit, or books previously purchased at Rivendell Books
SMALL STORE CREDIT APPOINTMENT- Between 10 and 40 books for Store Credit ONLY
LARGE STORE CREDIT APPOINTMENT- Between 40 and 100 books for Store Credit ONLY
SMALL STORE CASH APPOINTMENT- Between 10 and 40 books for Cash
LARGE STORE CASH APPOINTMENT- Between 40 and 100 books for Cash
*Store Credit is paid at double the Cash rate
For rare, antiquarian, collectible, or otherwise valuable books, please book a Rare & Antiquated Book Appointment.
BOOK AN APPOINTMENT HERE
READ MORE ON THIS IN OUR POLICIES & FAQs
BOOKS IN HIGH DEMAND: DO YOU HAVE THESE TITLES? BRING THEM IN FOR STORE CREDIT ANYTIME!
Rivendell Books Merch & Bookish Swag
NEW! Shop Online
You can now shop our selection on our website and select if you wish to pick up your books in-store or have them shipped directly to your door!
HOW TO ORDER ONLINE:
- Search for your book by title or author in the search bar
OR
- Browse our selection by genre or theme by using the menu at the top of the website
*If you do not see a title you are looking for listed, it does not mean we do not have it. We are slowly working through our in-store inventory and books are added each day.
Please call us at 705-722-4884 to check on inventory of anything not listed on our website!
What People Are Saying About Rivendell Books...
Rivendell Books in the News
Barrie Today-2026
Barrie retro book fair promises childhood nostalgia — with cocktails
Rivendell Books is offering up a hit of childhood nostalgia for grown-up bookworms. For a generation of readers, a book fair wasn’t just a school day event, it was a rite of passage: the smell of the Scholastic book catalogue, choosing your own pencil toppers and perusing the book shelves with classmates. Now, Rivendell is bringing back that feeling, only this time, the readers are all grown up and there are cocktails involved.
Barrie Today- 2020
"Bookstore has everything covered, even their local ghost. Owner of Rivendell Books, located in the Wellington Plaza, says she has tried to create 'a real local place, where people could come and enjoy books together' Voracious readers can get lost in the rows of stories at a local book store before heading home and getting lost in the story itself..."
BibliOcult- 2018
"Rivendell Books, a used, rare, and out-of-print book store in Barrie, Ontario is home to a history buff who spends his days and nights pacing the aisle that shelves books on WWI and WWII. He reads and obsesses about the Great War, often removing books from the shelves and sorting them into piles. But he isn’t an employee that needs to be given direction, and he isn’t a loyal, yet irritating customer. He’s a ghost..."
Location
Rivendell Books
165 Wellington Street West
Unit 2B
Barrie, Ontario
L4N 1L7
705-722-4884
Mon, Tues & Wed: 10:00am - 6:00pm
Thurs & Fri: 10:00am-7:00pm
Sat: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Sun: 11:00am - 4:00pm
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
The Barrie Literacy Council was founded in 1979 by local Barrie, Ontario resident, Connie Morgan to assist adults improve their basic reading, writing and math skills.
They currently provide one-on-one tutoring and small group classes. Independent study students receive assistance from the Independent study Instructor while they wait to be matched with an appropriate volunteer tutor. Since their inception, they have assisted well over 1500 adults improve their literacy and numeracy skills and achieve their personal goals. Many of the tutors and volunteers have been a part of the organization for a decade or more: a testament to the rewards of tutoring and the values of their organization.