EpicFest, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library’s free literary festival for children and their families, will take place on November 3-4, 2023. On Friday, November 3, the featured authors and illustrators will visit various area schools where they will speak with students. On Saturday, November 4, these authors and illustrators will participate in a day-long festival at ImaginOn: The Joe & Joan Martin Center, 300 E. Seventh Street, Charlotte. The event will start at 10:00 a.m. and conclude at 3:00 p.m.
I contacted Walker Doermann, one of the organizers of this year’s EpicFest, and asked her for more information about the event. She not only sent me the following information about this year’s festival, but she also sent me a photograph of her son enjoying last year’s event:
This year’s EpicFest features ten incredible authors who will be visiting Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools on Friday and then promoting their newest books on Saturday. Eight children’s authors, including Margaret Peterson Haddix, Jessica Kim, Dare Coulter, Ashley Belote, Jeffery Weatherford, Eleanor Spicer Rice, Judy Allen Dodson, and Saadia Faruqi will be at ImaginOn speaking about their experience as writers and signing books.
The EpicFest Family Festival at ImaginOn is a great time for young readers to engage with some of their favorite authors and hear about their writing inspiration, and for aspiring young writers to ask them questions about their writing process. In addition to a strong author lineup on Saturday, there will be plenty of hands-on activities for children of all ages. In addition to creative learning tables, Children’s Theatre of Charlotte will offer a special presentation of Schoolhouse Rock Live! at noon, and Charlotte Ballet leads a Dance-a-Story Nutcracker workshop at 1:00 p.m. Other festive touches throughout the day include roving costumed book characters, face painting and balloon twisting, and a visit from GameTruck Charlotte.
Also on Saturday, YA authors Amber Smith and Nora Shalaway Carpenter will be the featured authors at our first ever Teen Writing Conference at SouthPark Library (noon to 3:30 p.m.). Teens will have the opportunity to share their own work in a writing workshop with the authors, as well as attend a meet and mingle and book signing.
For more information about this year’s featured guests, please click on the following link: https://www.cmlibrary.org/epicfest
As usual, I will be volunteering all day at EpicFest. I have my rituals and traditions associated with the day. On Saturday morning, I will put on my book tie, which my wife bought for me at the University of Oxford’s Bodleian Library. I will then take the light rail to the Seventh Street Station. After exiting the train, I wil take the short walk to ImaginOn where I will spend the day helping the authors set up for their presentations and book signings. I hope to see you there. I would not miss EpicFest for anything. After all, EpicFest is a Storied Charlotte tradition.