WHAT A DAY! The next WOTS festival is on Sunday, September 30, 2007 but in the meantime, here's a snapshot of the 2006 festival. WOTS Vancouver was blessed with another year of spectacular weather, great attendance and lots of authors and performers and a record number of exhibitors. Attendance was estimated at about 35,000 and a great time was had by all. But don't take our word on it ... see for yourself:

Yes, it was truly a bibliophile's paradise! All over the site, inside and out, thousands of visitors explored a record 153 exhibitors in the marketplace. There were book and magazine publishers, festivals, associations, booksellers, literacy organizations and more for every age and interest. In fact, many exhibitors ran out of stuff early this year!

At the Main Stage, audiences danced, cheered and listened to a great line-up of entertainers and wordsmiths. Once again, the festival was kicked off to a great start by the Celebrating Vancouver's Young Readers event as organized by VPL, with the participation of city councilors and the city librarian. Later in the day, crowds marvelled at the talents of the Sam’s Rot’n Pot’n Pan Band, Ralph Shaw (a.k.a. King of the Ukelele), Haiku Night in Canada, Nardwuar the Human Serviette and Duplex!

Once again it was a great day for POETRY lovers! In the Poet’s Corner, aspiring artists read on the same stage as luminaries like Lynn Crosbie and Baba Brinkman, who wowed the crowds with his Rap Canterbury Tales. The 10th Anniversary of Poetry In Transit showcased readings of poems selected to appear on city buses, while nearby, visitors could read all the selected pieces on a parked TransLink bus. Elsewhere on site, the Main Stage audiences enjoyed the always-popular Vancouver Poetry Slam Team and Haiku Night in Canada, while at the Magazine Mews stage, there was poetry from Event magazine and Prism International.

On Homer Street, not far from the Main Stage, Magazine Mews was buzzing with activity. With panel discussions, literary readings, advice for aspiring freelancers, the Magazine Mews Stage was abuzz with staffers and contributors to publications like The Walrus, Vancouver Review, Event, Room of One’s Own, subTerrain, Youthink, Geist and more. There were also dozens of Canadian magazine exhibitors to visit … always something exciting to discover in this area.

As always, it was authors, authors, everywhere. The Authors Tent, presented by five independent booksellers, boasted the likes of One Book One Vancouver author Patrick Lane among others including Arthur Black, Jack White, Micheal Slade, Rafe Mair, and Roch Carrier reading The Hockey Sweater to hundreds. As well, Michael McKinley launched Hockey: A People’s History at this tent, introduced by none other that CBC Television news anchor, Ian Hanomansing.

Meanwhile at the Canada Writes Tent, Timothy Taylor as well as Giller Prize nominees Carol Whindley and Caroline Adderson were among the dozens who took to the stage. Our beloved M. Carrier read from his most recent novel in French here too.

We were especially thrilled to see the return of the Terasen Cooking Stage, which featured talks and demos by some of the city’s top food and wine experts like John Schreiner, Susan Mendelson, Christian Gaudrealt and Karen Barnaby.

We had two popular event tents and more for kids and families along Literacy Lane. The Vancouver Sun Raise-a-Reader Corner once again brought picture book authors and storytelling librarians to the youngest set.

And in the Kids Tent, those just a little older had authors, performers and more on stage just for them. Highlights included musician Will Stroet, Roch Carrier reading The Hockey Sweater again, this time in French, the Tickle Trunk Players, and dog expert Stanley Coren. And in keeping with our poster image, we had a marvelous strong man roaming the site to delight festival-goers of all ages.

Also on Hamilton Street’s Literacy Lane, the Starbucks Family Literacy Tent housed exhibits for literacy organizations including Literacy BC. This was a great place for those interested in finding out more about learning to read at any age, or to sign up as a volunteer. Nearby, the Vancouver Sun promoted their upcoming Raise-a-Reader day, which raises funds for family literacy in BC.

Inside the library, there was lots to see and do as well. Downstairs, our annual The Word Under The Street festival celebrated underground comix and 'zines by involving dozens of local exhibitors, panel discussions, a comics contest and more. 2006 was a breakthrough year with throngs of comix fans making their way down to the exhibits and panel discussions, including a chat with Seattle-based comics journalist, Joe Sacco. Could it be the energetic cheerleading stylings of the Ink Muffins (pictured here on the stairs leading underground) that lured so many to this hot spot this year?

The library interior was also home to a visual “flowchart” exhibit by leannej of FRONT magazine and our annual Book Talks, popular panel discussions about publishing for children, finding a literary agent, writing for the web and more. Upstairs, in the library promenade, there were exhibits, BC Book Guild demos and our annual Silent Auction.

And finally, we could not have done it without the enthusiastic, unflagging support of our volunteers. Thanks, everyone! Literally hundreds of individuals, funding bodies, companies and community organizations come together to make WOTS the success it is. And we’re not just talking about the exhibitors ... authors, hosts, sponsors, volunteers, our site crew at f* Geinus Productions, board members and dozens of other supporters are key to ensuring the festival gets off the ground and runs smoothly from set-up to tear down. Thanks to our wonderful line-up of authors and performers, who did a terrific job entertaining and enlightening the attendees of dozens of venues. And big hugs and kudos to The Vancouver Sun and CBC Radio One and CBC Television for providing us with such a powerful promotional presence.