Welcome to Telling Tales’ Main Stage! The festival’s Main Stage features our daily Festival Headliner book presentations at 12:15 pm, and a variety of high-energy musical and movement based performances geared to our youngest audience members. Bring a blanket for lawn seating and be ready to get up and dance!
On Saturday, this tent has ASL interpretation thanks to Silent Voice and Undivided Productions.
The Main Stage is located in RBG’s Rose Garden, West of the central Rose Garden. Lawn seating is available, with limited tent coverage.
Directly following Headline book presentations, head to A Different Drummer Books, Official Children’s Bookseller (located East of the central Rose Garden) to buy your favourite featured book and then to the Autograph Tent to have it signed by the presenters!
These presentations are designed for family audiences and would be most enjoyed by kids in the pre-school and early grades—children from birth to age 8.

Presentations
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Telling Tales Festival
10:00 AM - 10:45 AMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Sing As You Are is a fun, drop-in musical experience presented by the Hamilton Children’s Choir for kids of all […]
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Telling Tales Festival
10:50 AM - 11:00 AMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
11:15 AM - 12:00 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Have you met My Friend Christopher? He can be your friend too when you visit the Main Stage for 45 […]
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Telling Tales Festival
12:15 PM - 1:00 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join acclaimed Inuk author and throat singer Tanya Tagaq and Inuk performance artist and throat singer Charlotte Qamaniq, in their […]
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Telling Tales Festival
1:10 PM - 1:20 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
1:30 PM - 2:15 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join Adam Pottle for a powerful and immersive Main Stage experience. Before bringing the story Butterfly on the Wind to […]
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Telling Tales Festival
2:25 PM - 2:35 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
3:40 PM - 3:50 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
10:00 AM - 10:45 AMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Get your body warmed up for a day of exploring the Festival with Goodbodyfeel! Join Robin Lacambra in this 45-minute […]
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Telling Tales Festival
10:50 AM - 11:00 AMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
11:15 AM - 12:00 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
“Adventure of the Little Rooster” is a 45-minute interactive and theatrical storytelling adaptation of a Hungarian folk tale. Everything changes […]
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Telling Tales Festival
12:15 PM - 1:00 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join author and illustrator Matthew Forsythe in the headliner presentation on our Main Stage. You absolutely do not want to […]
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Telling Tales Festival
1:10 PM - 1:20 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
1:30 PM - 2:15 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join us on the Main Stage for an inspiring and heartwarming performance with Tia McGraff—an engaging children’s author, podcast host, […]
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Telling Tales Festival
2:25 PM - 2:35 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
2:45 PM - 3:30 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join drag queen Hexe Noire for a 45-minute drag storytime on the Telling Tales Main Stage. A fantastic spectacle for […]
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Telling Tales Festival
3:40 PM - 3:50 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Join HPL on the Main Stage for drop-in storytimes, with songs and body movement!
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Telling Tales Festival
4:00 PM - 4:45 PMRoyal Botanical Gardens
Main Stage (All Ages)
Age / Grade 0-3 / Early Years 4-6 / Kindergarten 6-8 / Grades 1-3 9-12 / Grades 4-6 12-14 / Grades 7-8 14+ / Grades 9+
Get ready to move and groove at HMC’s Kids Dance Party — a high-energy event packed with dancing, games, and […]