The decision to change the format of this year’s Saskatchewan Festival of Words was a tough one, said executive director Sarah Simison, but the committee is already elbow-deep in planning and excited to shape a new version of the festival for this year.
“It was actually a relief to make the decision, even though it was a difficult decision to come to,” said Simison. “But once the decision was made, we got excited about programming and have been coming up with some really great ideas on what we can do online.”
For the first time in its history, the Festival will be taking the entirety of its events online in order to comply with provincial and national coronavirus pandemic restrictions.
The 2020 Festival of Words was originally set to feature over 60 events over four days at venues right here in Moose Jaw, but organizers had concerns over the uncertainty of when pandemic measures may be lifted — especially given the large crowd the Festival attracts each summer.
Things are still falling into place as of yet, but Simison and her team are imagining the Festival being held virtually over video interactions and other online formats to connect literature enthusiasts with Festival guests just like usual.
“The Festival is going to be a mix of things that are similar to what you see at our regular Festival, the in-person version, so we'll have workshops, interviews, readings, panel discussions,” said Simison. “We pride ourselves on it being sort of an intimate festival, where it's up close and personal with authors, so we're trying to find ways for people to still do that.”
Books from the Festival’s featured authors are also still going to available to purchase, as well. McNally Robinson will once again be providing book sales through online ordering, where Festival patrons can identify as such during checkout to make sure part of the proceeds are returned to the Festival of Words.
Post Horizon Booksellers is also planning on lending a hand, so long as they are able to be open, and will be able to order in Festival books locally for those who aren’t the online shopping type.
There are currently 14 authors confirmed to be taking part in the virtual Festival setting, including Jay Ingram, Paul Seesequasis, Bernadette Wagner, and Linsday Wong, among others, with more likely to come.
Because so many things were on the schedule and organizers were reluctant to cut any events from the lineup, this year’s Festival will be taking place over seven days rather than the usual four, from July 13-19.
“It's going to be in July, and we figured nobody's going to want to sit on their computer all day long and watch our Festival, so we’re going to spread it out,” said Simison.
Also, for the first time since it began, the Festival will be entirely free to attend this year.
“We're kind of following what other festivals are doing, across Canada, [and] everyone's kind of offering things for free,” said Simison.
Organizers are still encouraging Festival fans to consider donating some funds when they register for this year’s events, to help keep the organization afloat through this unusual time.
“There’s technology costs, there's technicians that we need, so there's still a lot of costs associated with running the Festival [virtually],” said Simison. “But of course if people can't afford it, we definitely still want them to come and participate and enjoy.”
Simison said the decision to move to an online, physically distanced version of the Festival is one the planning team made carefully.
“For us, we thought long and hard about how this year is our 24th Festival and it would've just felt awful to have to [cancel],” said Simison. “So, we decided to go virtual and the excitement really started building after that.”
It’s going to be an unusual adjustment for both organizers and attendees alike, said Simison, but one that will perhaps set the stage nicely for next year’s 25th anniversary Festival of Words.
Organizers are hoping that the online format, paired with the extended schedule and free attendance, will make the literary event more accessible to attendees — and hopefully draw in a whole new wave of Festival enthusiasts this year.
“We figured that instead of seeing this as sort of a disappointment, or we have to do it, we're trying to see it as an opportunity, for people who haven’t been able to come to our Festival,” said Simison. “We're hoping to generate some more excitement around the 25th anniversary and maybe people who attend virtually this year will come to the in-person version next year as well.”
A full, revised schedule of events for the virtual Festival of Words is set to be released on June 1, which is when attendees may also begin registering for events.
Organizers are also hoping to have a few more announcements regarding Festival guests in the coming weeks, and encourage people to stay tuned to their social media for updates.
