The Word on the Street Festival 2009

Word on the Sreet 2009 offered the perfect opportunity to prove my literacy to my library "in crowd" friends. The annual celebration of all things literary took place on Sunday at Queen's Park and featured live music, great food and, of course, book readings.

I first stopped in at the Cooks and Books Tent just in time to watch Slow Food pioneers Jeff Crump and Bettina Shormann cook up some yummy smelling beef short ribs from their Earth to Table cookbook, which was available for sale.

Backstage, Canadian Living food editor Elizabeth Baird prepared her cookie demonstration.

If you were as hungry as I was leaving the cooking demonstrations, you need not have worried. Everywhere, people were eating and enjoying the warm fall afternoon.On the Eye Weekly Music Stage, Bruce Peninsula performed for a packed tent.

I took some time to browse the marketplace, a one-stop-shop for anything and everything from large publishers to small magazines. I had to fight a rather large crowd to finally get my hands on some of Spacing Magazine's unique TTC buttons, but my patience was eventually rewarded.

As the afternoon went on, the crowds got even larger. I tried to get into the Scotiabank Bestsellers Tent to hear Margaret Atwood read from her latest book, "The Year of the Flood", but it was packed full. Still, I could tell by the applause that the audience appreciated hearing her speak.

Despite the mass of people that descended on Queens Park, everywhere that I looked there were people taking time to relax in the park, eager to dive into the pages of their latest find.

Overall I had a great afternoon in the park, and I get the sense that many others did too, as the event was obviously well attended. There really was something for everybody, even library-cardless types like myself.