Kansas Literacy Festival gathers people in Wichita to celebrate love of reading
Like many other events scheduled for 2020, the Kansas Literacy Festival had to be altered because of the COVID pandemic.
But the change in plans proved beneficial, said Prisca Barnes, founder and CEO of Storytime Village, which has presented the festival since 2016.
“It actually was a blessing in disguise,” she said, when the energy was put toward online offerings. “When we paused and took that more digital approach, it allowed us to reach out statewide. We gathered a whole host of partners that joined us from all over the state, and they started doing things in their own community.”
So after a teacher conference on Thursday and a breakfast gala on Friday, a re-energized Kansas Literacy Festival takes place Saturday, starting with a parade that begins at Koch Arena at 9 a.m.
“We’re looking at that parade as more of a march to the festival grounds” at Fairmount Park, Barnes said.
Activities take place until 3 p.m., including book readings by guest Sonia Manzano, best known for playing Maria on “Sesame Street” from 1971 to 2015.
Other activities during the day include author meet-and-greets and book signings, artists, dancers, poets, illustrators, story time stages, a petting zoo, kite flying, a paint party, community vendors and food trucks. For would-be authors, whether they’re children or adults, there will be workshops on getting children’s books written and published.
And the statewide outreach that formed from the pandemic will be on display at the park.
“They did their own projects in their own communities, and now they’re bringing their projects to Wichita to be part of our professional development and our festival day,” Barnes said.
The mission of the festival and Storytime Village is to inspire a lifelong love of reading in Kansas children from birth to age 8.
The theme of this year’s festival is “Be the Village,” based on the African adage that it takes a village to raise a child.
“We’re calling on the community to be that village,” Barnes said.