The Edgar Allan Poe Festival Streams October 3–4—And It's Free!

The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards stream to a device near you this weekend!

While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,
As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door.
“’Tis some visitor,” I muttered, “tapping at my chamber door—
Only this and nothing more.”

So begins a famous poem, from an author—you should know him,
for they surely teach of Poe in nearly every English class.
The haunted Edgar Allan used considerable talents
to write tales of mostly malice with unparalleled panache.
From The Raven to The Black Cat, he drafted scary tales en masse
and now Master Poe is back.

poe

Nah, I won't be doing that for the whole article—it's kind of difficult to fit "The 2020 International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards" into The Raven's meter without getting kitschy.

Edgar Allan Poe and Baltimore are inextricably linked. Poe worked in the city for a time, and died and was buried there. The Baltimore Ravens NFL team has a raven mascot named Poe, and now Poe Baltimore is hosting an international, virtual celebration of Edgar Allan Poe's legacy.

The 2020 International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards is a weekend of performances, movies, music, art, and virtual tours. You can tune in to a live stream of the virtual event on October 3 and 4 at PoeFestInternational.org, via Facebook, or through their YouTube channel.

The main broadcast begins at 11 a.m. on Saturday, October 3, and 11 a.m. on Sunday, October 4. The "Visiter" awards ceremony will be 8 p.m. on October 3.

poe

All this for such a handsome lad. Image courtesy Wikimedia Commons.

What Spooky and Riveting Things Await the Virtual Attendees?

You can check out the festival program here, but highlights include:

Theatrical narration of The Masque of the Red Death by the Chesapeake Shakespeare Company
Concurrent trivia challenges on social media
A 3D-sculpting demonstration of Mr. Poe's bust by Florida artist Adrianne Draude
Radio drama and performance of selected Poe works by the Edgar Allan Poe Theatre
Half Light Theatre Presents: POE-etry in the Parlour, wherein a New York troupe of actors and musicians bring Poe poetry to life
Viewing of "The Raven," winner of the 2015 Emmy Award (Regional) for Educational Program
A special Sunday Brunch with Edgar Allan Poe's dead mother??

There's more to be had, including the virtual tours of places like the Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum—but the virtual tours do cost money. While the festival is free (you can also reserve free tickets to be entered into drawings), the tickets to virtual tours are purchased and reserved on the festival website. Depending on the tour, expect to pay $12 or $20 per person for an hour Zoom webinar.

If you have technical questions on how to tune in, you can consult their FAQ here.

Can you think of a better way to kick off Halloween month than with a Poe festival? Any interest in attending? Leave a comment!