The TD-Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival is once again offering exciting free activities and programs for children and adolescents of all ages across Quebec. Several events feature in this year’s Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, one of the largest multilingual literary events in North America, from April 23-26, mainly at Hotel 10, along with many online events.
A BUSY AND EXCITING SPRING 2026
Blue Spring Programming
In April until the beginning of May, keep an eye on Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival programming for meet-and-greets and workshops hosted by children’s authors in many libraries, institutions, specialized schools and other organizations around Montreal, as well as programming at the Festival hub at Hotel 10. The 2026 edition will feature authors Monique Polak, Paul Martin, Caroline Barber, Frédérick Wolfe, Tania Baladi and Catherine Fouron.
Educational Program: Des Mots qui Flow/Words that Flow
Led by slammers IVY (Slam Montréal) and BeWyrd (Throw! Poetry Collective), these bilingual workshops will invite youth from two secondary schools into the universe of collective creation. As the texts take shape, voices will meet and mix, and the creations will unfold both on stage and on screen. Recorded by professionals, participants’ performances will be shared online and on stage until the final performance at the 2026 Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival.
This project is back for its second edition, thanks to the financial support and expertise of ArcelorMittal Long Products Canada. This edition took place in schools in Varennes and Sorel-Tracy. The program is divided into two parts: first, a presentation by the ArcelorMittal company experts on steel, and then comic-making workshop led by graphic novelists Jean-François Laliberté and Sacha Lefebvre. In April 2026, a selection of the best creations will be presented in libraries in participating towns, as well as at the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival at HOTEL10.
AZUL Programming for Kids
Blue Metropolis will present a bilingual activity for children in French and Spanish at Café Origine (8, Sherbrooke West) during the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. El gran vuelo de la pequeña Diente-de-Leon / Le grand vol de la petite Dent-de-Lion is a paper theatre adaptation of the graphic literary work by María Graciela Bastardo, illustrated by Pascale Sévigny-Vallières.
Original Exhibition: Draw Me a Sun
Also in April, the new exhibition, Draw Me a Sun, will be presented in four libraries in Montreal: Benny, Marie- Uguay, Saul-Bellow and Rivière-des-Prairies. Featuring original illustrations by Josée Bisaillon, Félix Girard, Marie Lafrance, Mireille Levert, Nahid Kazemi, Christine Sioui Wawanoloath, Anne Villeneuve and Paul Roux.
THREE CPE AND DAYCARE DAYS IN 2025-2026
Once again, a hundred or so early childhood education centres (CPEs) and daycares across Quebec are participating in one of our three 2025-2026 theme days: November 7 on the theme of peace; February 20 on the theme of self-esteem; and April 17 on the theme of sustainability. More than 7,000 children participate every year.
ACCESS ANYTIME
Parents, teachers and other children’s educators can find resources on our website, accessible wherever and whenever, including podcasts, reading recommendations, and fun educational worksheets on our major programming themes. Enjoy unlimited access to these enriching materials! bluemetropolis.org/youth/
BLUE METROPOLIS AT A GLANCE
Founded in 1997, the Blue Metropolis Foundation is a charitable organization whose mission is to bring together people of different languages and cultures through the pleasure of reading and writing, to foster creativity and intercultural understanding. The Foundation presents an annual International Literary Festival and offers a range of year-round activities through its TD-Blue Metropolis Children’s Festival, as well as educational and social programs in classrooms, libraries and online. These programs use writing and reading as therapeutic tools to help students stay in school, and to combat poverty and exclusion.
