Parents take note: the Baltimore Book Festival takes place in downtown Baltimore from Friday, September 28 through Sunday, September 
30. The festival runs from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. each day and, from start to finish, is packed with fun, kid-friendly activities.
Before heading to the festival with your family, take a few minutes to check out what’s on tap for families each day. Most of the family-oriented activities take place in the festival’s Craft Corridor or on the Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage.
In both locations, fun events for kids take place all day long. Here’s a look at some of the highlights, both in the Corridor and on the Stage, and throughout the festival as a whole:
Craft Corridor
As its name suggests, the Craft Corridor is a hotspot for all things crafty; throughout the entire festival, families can take advantage of hands-on crafts, including A Wrinkle in Time-themed crafts like DIY Galaxy Zen Jars and DIY Tesseracts.
Several times each day, the Craft Corridor will also be home to Poetry in Motion, a series of interactive theater games designed to create visual adaptations of Shel Silverstein poetry, using mime, gesture and other creative movement.
In the Craft Corridor: http://baltimorebookfestival.org/schedule/location/33/Crafts-Corridor
Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage
Over the course of the three-day festival, the Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage will host a dozen events, from dancing instruction to readings from celebrated authors.
Friday, the festival starts with a Zumbini class taught by Miss Kelly, a children’s librarian at Southeast Anchor Library; the theme is “Kalino Finds the Music.” Later that day, kids can learn to make magical toys from paper and participate in a maker space workshop.
Saturday starts with storytime combined with instruction in American Sign Language, followed by an interactive game with picture book authors. Later in the day, hear from New York Times best-selling illustrator and author Ricardo Cortes, observe the We Rise, We Resist, We Raise Our Voices panel and from YA authors Brigid Kemmerer and Nisha Sharma.
On Sunday, families can check out a panel discussion between picture book authors, moderated by kids’ librarian extraordinaire Paula Willey, a conversation between Dear Martin author Nic Stone and Baltimore Ceasefire’s Letrice Gant, a talk between Rubys Artist grantee and Edith Wharton writer-in-residence Kate Petty and Nerd Camp series author Elissa Brent Weissman, and a chat between graphic artist Tony Medina and podcaster Matthew Winner.
On the Enoch Pratt Free Library Children’s Stage: http://baltimorebookfestival.org/schedule/location/2/Enoch-Pratt-Free-Library-Children’s-Stage
Storybook Parade
On Saturday at 11 a.m., one of the festival highlights, the Storybook Parade, begins at the South Shore Promenade and wraps around the Inner Harbor to end at the World Trade Center. The parade includes a variety of storybook characters; festival-goers are welcome to come dressed as their own favorite character, author or playwright and join in the parade. (Meet at Rash Field to participate.)
About the parade: http://baltimorebookfestival.org/schedule/event-detail/3798/Storybook-Parade
Where to Park
Parents of young ones know that convenient parking is an important element of any successful and fun day out. When visiting the Baltimore Book Festival, Harbor Park Garage fits that bill.
The garage is located 55 Market Place in downtown Baltimore, next to Power Plant Live! and great kid-friendly restaurants, like Miss Shirley’s.
The garage is located near I-83 and is easily accessible from other major roads in and out of the city, and it’s a short, easy walk from the garage to the festival.
The friendly staff is well-trained and knowledgeable; they’re happy to answer any questions you might have about where to go and what to do. Plus, it’s staffed 24/7 and is well-lit and safe – an ideal spot to start and end your trip.
Baltimore Book Festival: http://baltimorebookfestival.org
Harbor Park Garage: https://harborparkgarage.com/