Celebrating 20 festivals: setting a feast of Canada’s best fall titles in a time of (sponsorship) famine

Usually an anniversary of any kind is a time for celebration. But as the world settled into a recession, it became apparent here at The Word On The Street Toronto that we would have to be very creative this year to ensure that our 20^th festival celebration would proceed as planned. As a non-profit that, over the last twenty years, has enjoyed exponential growth in programming, exhibitors and attendance, we’ve learned to build successful and long-term alliances with government funders at all levels, programming partners, media partners and sponsors. We’ve learned to thrive and meet our needs by creating a patchwork of support, drawing on resources from the private and public sectors and the generous volunteer time of our boards over the years and the many volunteers who help out on the day of the festival and throughout the year.

We are proud of our sponsors who have been there from the very beginning: Citytv and the Toronto Star helped us build the face of The Word On The Street when we launched our first festival in 1990 on Queen Street West. Publishers like McClelland & Stewart, organizations like PEN Canada and magazines like THIS Magazine and Toronto Life have been on the street with us every year, meeting festival-goers and sharing our passion for books, writers and discussing provocative ideas. Well-known authors like Margaret Atwood, Paul Quarrington and Nino Ricci took part in the festival at least five times each over the last 20 years while our stages hosted such well-known personalities as The Barenaked Ladies, Knowlton Nash, Dennis Lee and Robert Munsch. We’ve celebrated the City of Toronto Book Awards for many years with our partner the City of Toronto. Award-winning authors have read from their works while newly published authors have found success after their debut at The Word On The Street.

So all of this is a round-about way of saying that thanks to 19 years of hard work and relationship building, The Word On The Street's 20th festival is promising to be bigger and better than before. Return often to this blog for future announcements about festival headliners, family fun and the exciting opportunities you’ll find on September 27 at Queen’s Park to meet the publishers, authors, illustrators and sponsoring companies who make this the biggest yearly celebration of the written word in Canada. And, as it has been for the last 19 years, ADMISSION IS FREE!

Best,

Cindy