Wordfest is Calgary’s international literary festival, held each October as ‘Imaginairium’ with dozens of shows across several venues.
About
The 2026 edition featured 41 shows with 60 writers in readings, interviews, panels and performances across several venues. Wordfest also runs year-round author events at its own theatre in Memorial Park Library and a free youth program for students in grades 5 to 12.
It was established in 1996 as the Banff Calgary International Writers Festival by community partners including The Banff Centre, the Calgary Public Library, Mount Royal University and the Writers’ Guild of Alberta, and incorporated in 1997. In 2017 it partnered with the Calgary Public Library to build a 140-seat theatre on the second floor of Memorial Park Library, enabling year-round programming.