Literary Festivals

Literary festivals are celebrations of books, the literary arts and the creative process. Festivals often involve seminars, workshops, launches and signings. The opportunity to purchase books is also often an option available at many of these festivals.

Canada

  • Bloody Words
    Bloody Words is Canada’s oldest and largest festival celebrating mystery readers and authors. It is held in a different Canadian city every June.
  • Canadian Festival of Spoken Word
    The Canadian Festival of Spoken Word is an annual event that celebrates and promotes spoken word performances. The festival changes cities annually in order to promote the spoken word across the country.
  • Canadian Library Month
    Canadian Library Month takes place every October and consists of events across the country that raise awareness of the importance of libraries. The Canadian Library Association sponsors this initiative.
  • Freedom to Read
    Freedom to Read Week takes place every year at the end of February. Through events held across the country, this festival reminds Canadians that the freedom to read should never be taken for granted.
  • National Poetry Month
    National Poetry Month is an annual celebration of poetry that features events across the country. Often a common theme is picked for many of the events. The League of Canadian Poets sponsors National Poetry Month.
  • The Word on the Street
    The Word on the Street was created to unite the country in an annual, one-day celebration of reading and writing, with a specific focus on Canadian authors. The Word on the Street currently takes place in Toronto, Vancouver, Halifax and Kitchener.

Atlantic Provinces

  • Atlantic Book Festival
    The Atlantic Book Festival combines awards, readings, tours, workshops and children’s events from all four Atlantic provinces and brings them together in one event that takes place in Halifax every May.

Newfoundland and Labrador

  • Writers at Woody Point
    The Writers at Woody Point literary festival is organized and presented by The Friends of the Woody Point Heritage Theatre to celebrate the literature of Newfoundland.

Nova Scotia

  • Cabot Trail Writers Festival
    The first annual Cabot Trail Writers Festival was held in the fall of 2009 in North River, Cape Breton. The festival runs on the weekend leading up to the Celtic Colours International Festival.

Prince Edward Island

New Brunswick

  • Frye Festival
    An annual celebration of writer Northrop Frye, the Frye Festival takes place in Moncton and is the only bilingual festival held in Eastern Canada.

Quebec

  • Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival
    The Blue Metropolis Montreal International Literary Festival is the world’s first multilingual literary festival. The five-day festival gathers writers, translators, and journalists for literary events in English, French, Spanish, and other languages.
  • Trois-Rivières International Festival of Poetry
    The Trois-Rivières festival boasts one of the most impressive turnouts for poetry festivals, attracting poets from all around the world, and holds more than 350 events.

Ontario

  • Aloud: A Celebration for Young Readers
    ALOUD features the best YA authors at events that take place during the annual Forest of Reading® Festival of Trees™ at Toronto’s Authors at Harbourfront Centre.
  • BookFest Windsor
    The annual BookFest Windsor (formerly Windsor Festival of the Book) combines author readings, interviews and signings with workshops on book arts, book collecting and publishing. Lectures also take place on various aspects of book history and production.
  • Books by the Bay
    Books by the Bay, a northern festival held in Callander, Ontario, celebrates Canadian and regional authors for adults and children.
  • Eden Mills Writers’ Festival
    The Eden Mills Writers’ Festival is an annual volunteer-run festival that consists of open-air readings, workshops and seminars taking place along the Eramosa River in the small town of Eden Mills.
  • gritLIT
    GritLIT Hamilton’s annual literary festival, created to celebrate Canada’s rich and diverse literary culture and bring attention to local writers.
  • International Festival of Authors
    The mandate of the International Festival of Authors (IFOA) is to bring together the best writers of contemporary world literature. The festival includes readings, interviews, lectures and round-table discussions, as well as public book signings.
  • Lakefield Literary Festival
    The Lakefield Literary Festival began in 1995 as a celebration of the work of Margaret Laurence. Since that time, the festival has expanded into a celebration of Lakefield authors and those from the surrounding areas.
  • Ottawa International Writers Festival
    The Ottawa International Writers Festival takes place twice a year, in the spring and fall, and features both internationally acclaimed and local authors.
  • Telling Tales
    The annual children’s literary festival takes place every September in Rockton, Ontario.
  • The Scream Literary Festival
    The festival began when the Dream in High Park stage in Toronto was commandeered on an off-night for a poetry reading. It has since evolved into a multi-day festival consisting of a unique collection of literary events taking place around Toronto.
  • The Toronto Festival of Storytelling
    This annual festival celebrates the past, present and future of the storytelling art form.

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

  • Saskatchewan Festival of Words
    The Saskatchewan Festival of Words is a celebration of the work of poets, novelists, creative non-fiction writers and other performers that takes place every summer in Moose Jaw.
  • Talking Fresh
    Talking Fresh is an annual mini-festival that takes place at Luther College in Regina.

Alberta

  • Banff Mountain Book Festival
    The Banff Mountain Book Festival celebrates the world’s best mountain and adventure travel stories.
  • Calgary International Spoken Word Festival
    The Calgary International Spoken Word Festival has grown extensively since its inception in 2003. Founded by spoken word artist Sheri-D Wilson, the event now spans two weeks in April and involves artists from across Canada.
  • LitFest—Edmonton’s International Literary Festival
    LitFest is Canada’s only creative non-fiction festival. The festival displays this unique art form through a series of panels and discussions.
  • WordFest
    WordFest is an annual six-day festival that takes place in numerous venues in both Banff and Calgary. WordFest has become an internationally recognized celebration of the written word.

British Columbia

  • Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival
    The Cherie Smith JCCGV Jewish Book Festival, an annual event that takes place in Vancouver, is designed to showcase Jewish writers from around the world.
  • Shuswap Lake International Writers’ Festival
    The Shuswap Lake International Writers’ Festival takes place annually on Victoria Day weekend. The festival highlights the achievements of writers from the interior of British Columbia.
  • Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts
    The Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts is the longest-running summer gathering of Canadian writers and readers and features both established authors and rising literary stars.
  • The Pacific Festival of the Book
    The Pacific Festival of the Book takes place annually in Victoria. The festival consists of workshops, readings and a number of activities designed to appeal to youth.
  • Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival
    Held annually over six days in late October, the Vancouver International Writers & Readers Festival provides an intimate and informal environment where internationally acclaimed authors can mingle with undiscovered talent.

Yukon

  • Yukon Writers’ Festival
    In 1990, a number of organizations joined together to meld the Young Authors’ Conference and the National Book Festival into a more far-reaching Yukon Writers’ Festival to highlight the Canadian literary arts in the Yukon.

International

  • Book World Prague
    The Book World Prague international book fair and literary festival takes place annually every spring. The first day of the fair is reserved for industry professionals to trade rights; after that, the fair is open to the public.
  • Connecticut Children’s Book Fair
    The Connecticut Children’s Book Fair brings children’s authors and illustrators to the general public in an event designed to celebrate children’s literature.
  • Edinburgh International Book Festival
    The Edinburgh International Book Festival became an annual event in 1997. The festival is large in scope and now boasts more than 650 events. The RBS Children’s Programme runs in conjunction with the main festival.
  • Festival International de la Bande Dessinée
    Since 1974, the Angoulême, France, has hosted the annual International Comics Festival. In 1990, a rights trading component was added.
  • Göteborg Book Fair
    Sweden’s Göteborg Book Fair is the largest meeting place for the book industry in the Nordic countries. Besides the focus on the trading or rights, certain portions of the fair are open to the public.
  • Jewish Book Week
    Jewish Book Week is an annual celebration of books from the Jewish community that takes place in London. A book fair is also a component of the festival, in which books written by those in the Jewish community are offered for sale.
  • Leipzig Reads
    Leipzig Reads is part of the Leipzig Book Fair. It takes place over the course of four days and consists of a number of reading events.
  • Salon du Livre
    The Salon du Livre takes place in Paris annually during March. The six-day festival consists of signings, readings and conferences.
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