Open Book curates three multi-day engagements over the course of a year. We kick off with Youth Fest in March, followed by Workshop Week in June and round it off with Open Book Festival in September.
From encouraging a love of stories in our youngest readers, through to skill sharing and conversations that explore crucial themes, Open Book is something you do not want to miss.
YOUTH FEST
Nothing quite matches the pleasure of seeing young readers engaging with books and stories, knowing that their reading journey is just beginning. That is part of what makes Youth Fest such a highlight of the Open Book year.
Each year we travel across the city with storytellers, writers, facilitators and poets, to run storytime and activity sessions, workshops and poetry engagements. The schools and library spaces we access are located in underfunded communities. Wherever possible, we donate books to all who join us – our contribution to increasing young people’s access to books and supporting literacy. The programme is completely free, and includes a mix of public facing and off programme sessions.
WORKSHOP WEEK
This element of the Festival is aimed at both emerging and experienced writers looking to hone their skills across a variety of genres, as well as workshops where people have created comics books and even made their own calligraphy pens. Each year we craft a programme that allows for multiple skills sharing opportunities, often across generations. We keep ticket prices deliberately low, and also offer comps when needed.
While the Festival format may have changed since 2011, the vision has not. We remain committed to curating events that continue to resonate long after you have left the venue.
There are four major goals:
With around 60 events over three days, the Fest is a celebration, an exploration, and a gathering of community with books at its centre.
