The Word On The Street Festival is back for its 34th annual celebration of Canadian and Indigenous literature, taking place on May 27th and 28th at Queen’s Park in downtown Toronto. This free community street festival is a great opportunity to celebrate the stories that connect us all.
With over 250 authors and exhibitors, The Word On The Street Festival is Canada’s largest open-air book festival, attracting tens of thousands of visitors each year. The festival features a variety of events, including readings and panels by more than 100 authors, poets, and journalists.
In addition to the featured readings and panels, the festival also includes a dedicated children’s programming, an outdoor marketplace for books and magazines, and virtual workshops leading up to the annual festival weekend. These workshops are presented by Toronto Metropolitan University’s Chang School of Continuing Education, along with other programming partners such as the Toronto Public Library, Harlequin, Ontario Creates, Diaspora Dialogues, Luminato Festival, Writers’ Trust of Canada, Owlkids, Soapbox Science, The Ripple Foundation, and StoryPlanet.
The outdoor marketplace features a wide range of publishers, bookstores, magazines, independent authors, literacy organizations, writers’ groups, food vendors, and more. The festival is supported by the Government of Canada, the Government of Ontario, the Canada Council for the Arts, the Ontario Arts Council, the Toronto Arts Council, and Ontario Creates. The festival is also a grateful recipient of the Resilient Communities Fund from the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Tourism Relief Fund from the Government of Canada.
As a registered charitable organization, the Toronto book and magazine festival promotes literacy, champions Canadian and Indigenous writing, and creates space for a community of readers to share their passion for the written word. The festival would not be possible without the generosity of its community of sponsors and donors, including major sponsors such as the Toronto Star, Harlequin, Owlkids, and the Toronto Public Library. Penguin Random House Canada is the lead accessibility sponsor for the 2023 festival.
Visitors can expect a weekend filled with exciting events and opportunities to celebrate Canadian and Indigenous literature. For more information on the festival and year-round programming, visit toronto.thewordonthestreet.ca or follow @torontoWOTS on social media.
