The New York City Poetry Festival 2024

Meet 250 poets from five boroughs during two days at The New York City Poetry Festival that takes place at the Colonels Row on beautiful Governor's Island on the last weekend of July. The festival celebrates and consolidates a vibrant poetry community of NYC inviting poetry organizations and groups of all shapes and sizes to enrich the event with their aesthetics, personalities, and vision.

Thousands of poetry-lovers from all over NYC gather around beautiful Victorian houses under century-old trees on Governors Island to enjoy readings on three stages during two days for free. There is also the Vendor’s Village with booksellers, arts and craft makers, food trucks, and a beer garden sponsored by Brooklyn Brewery for everyone to enjoy. For a young audience, there is Children’s Poetry Festival on the fourth stage with its own readings, contests, and entertainment. The New York City Poetry Festival also has an open mic area.

The New York City Poetry Festival was founded in 2011 with the idea to bring together the biggest community of poets in the U.S. Its founders Stephanie Berger and Nicholas Adamski were spending a lot of time on Governors Island and thought it would be a perfect location for an outdoor summer festival aimed to force NYC poets from the dark corners of bars and coffee shops to socialize and mingle.