Welcome to Telling Tales!

When Telling Tales launched in 2009, it immediately resonated with the local community and quickly grew to be one of Canada’s leading festivals. Making homegrown Canadian authors, illustrators, and storytellers the main attraction, and their audiences children of all ages, proved to be an award-winning combination. We can’t wait to continue this story as we launch into our 15th year!

The theme of this year’s Telling Tales is “Stories Help Us Grow” and we are thrilled to share the 2023 illustration, created by Chief Lady Bird, a First Nations (Potawatomi and Chippewa) artist from Rama First Nation. Her Anishinaabe name is Ogimaakwebnes, which means Chief Lady Bird. She uses her spirit name as an acknowledgement of her Anishinaabe culture and the importance of family and community. She has perfectly captured the essence of this year’s theme in this beautiful illustration.

Our season begins as we join our friends at Imagine in the Park for a day of fun with some of our favourite children’s picture book authors.

Next up, we will continue to offer virtual programming with an all-star lineup of presenters sharing their stories and engaging audiences both near and far. Celebrating Graphics Novels will feature virtual interactive presentations hosted by Kevin Sylvester.

In July and August, we will be hosting Storytime at The AGH This new event is perfect for our youngest fans.

Our biggest celebration of the year will be our 15th Annual Telling Tales Festival at Royal Botanical Gardens! Watch for a full schedule in August that will feature an award-winning, diverse lineup, whose unique backgrounds and experiences reflect those of our audience. 

From our signature events to our year-round programming, we believe that through inspiring a love of reading, stories can change people’s lives.