The Baltimore Book Festival Is a Blast for Bibliophiles

Literature lovers enjoy Baltimore for its famous writerly residents like Edgar Allan Poe, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and H.L. Mencken. Our contemporary authors keep the tradition alive and well, and the Baltimore Book Festival celebrates it all.

If you’re a bibliophile, an aspiring writer, or simply someone who enjoys a good read, consider visiting the area in September, when the annual Baltimore Book Festival brings together writers and readers with their favorite medium: books.

What to Do at the Book Festival

The Baltimore Book Festival is a grand three-day event chock full of activities. There are hundreds of author appearances and book signings, more than a hundred exhibitors and booksellers, readings on multiple stages throughout each day, poetry readings and workshops, panel discussions, and more.

Livening up the scene are walking tours, hands-on kid projects, street theater, live music, and even cooking demos by celebrity chefs.

Where to Go

The Inner Harbor hosts this year’s Baltimore Book Festival, with stages and event spaces scattered throughout the area. (You can find details about each area on the festival website.)

Some popular locations are the CityLit Stage, the Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage, the Food For Thought Stage, the National Aquarium’s Exploration Stage, and the Ivy Bookshop Stage. But there are so many more, for almost any genre and interest!

Literary Salon

If you’re interested in hearing from nationally recognized headlining authors, the Literary Salon is the stage to visit. Readings and Q&As with headliners will take place throughout the duration of the festival.

CityLit Stage

CityLit Stage, presented by CityLit Project, showcases some of the best writers, literary journals, and reading series in the region. Whether it’s free feedback for writers, a panel on social justice and poetics, or a conversation with recent Newbery Award for Children’s Literature winner Kwame Alexander, this stage is the heartbeat of Baltimore literature.

National Aquarium’s Ocean Exploration Stage

Conservation and ocean enthusiasts of all ages will love The National Aquarium Ocean Exploration Stage. Here, you’ll have the chance to take part author appearances, special animal encounters, live music, interactive eco-programs and much more.

Pop Culture on Parade

The Pop Culture Parade presented by Geppi’s Entertainment Museum is a fun hodgepodge of superheroes, storybook characters, BmoreFit Dancewalkers, special guests, and costumed participants marching down the promenade, starting at Pratt & Light streets traveling down to the Geppi’s Entertainment Museum Comic Pavilion.

The Details

The Baltimore Book Festival
September 23, 24 and 25, 2016
Friday – Sunday, 11am-7pm
Baltimore Inner Harbor

Admission

The Baltimore Book Festival is 100% FREE and open to the public.

 

Find out more about this year’s festival stages and locations, the schedule of events, and the list of featured speakers on the festival website, which will be updated as the festival dates get closer.

We’d love to host your literary weekend here at nearby Wayside Inn in historic Ellicott City. Our free area vacation guide will help you plan your stay!