It feels INSANE to say we are fewer than 60 days away from the 2024 International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards. This year is particularly special as we roll out the crimson carpet for The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum’s 75th Anniversary coinciding with the 175th anniversary of Poe’s death in Baltimore.
Programming for this FREE community event does not happen without support from our sponsors. For a second year, Wells Fargo Foundation has committed $100,000 to grow festival programming and to celebrate Poe’s legacy here in Baltimore and beyond. They join La Cite Development, RavenBeer, Maryland Public Television, Hippodrome Foundation, Poe’s Magic Theatre and over 40 organizations contributing funds and programming for this event. All proceeds benefit The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum. Poe Baltimore will share plans for expansion of the museum with attendees at our Diamond Anniversary events this October.
Read this month’s newsletter for updates on festival and museum program announcements including The Poe Museum (Richmond), the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum, and year two of the Costume POErade. And congratulations to all of the Official Nominees for the 2024 Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards, presented by Poe Baltimore, recognizing a new generation of artists and writers inspired by the life and works of Edgar Allan Poe. Winners will be announced festival weekend at The Black Cat Ball, the official party of Poe Fest International.
Yours in Poe, Enrica Jang Director, Poe Baltimore
P.S. Our year-long commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Poe House & Museum in Baltimore continues. Each month we’re sharing facts, points of interest, and hidden history of Poe House, from its savior from demolition in 1940, to the future of the museum as we look ahead to transformation and expansion. This month, meet the first tour guides at Poe House!
The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Poe House 75th Anniversary
This year we commemorate two very special anniversaries: the 175th Anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s Death in Baltimore in 1849 and the 75th Anniversary of The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum established in 1949. Join us festival weekend for three days of programs, exhibits, and of course the street festival just outside Poe’s chamber door at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore! 75th Anniversary Programs include:
Poe Fest International is a free, family-friendly weekend of events featuring Edgar Allan Poe-themed performances, art, exhibits, vendors, music and food, celebrating Poe’s life, works and his influence in the arts. The street festival takes place at The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum at 203 N. Amity Street in Baltimore, in “Poe Park” at Center/West. Additional exhibits, tours, and programs at several locations in Baltimore City, October 4-6.
If previous years’ attendance is any judge, this year’s festival may just be the biggest Poe event in three-quarters of a century (again!) Don’t miss an incredible Diamond Anniversary for the Poe House in Baltimore.
This year we commemorate two very special anniversaries: the 175th Anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s Death in Baltimore in 1849 and the 75th Anniversary of The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum established in 1949. Join us festival weekend for three days of programs, exhibits, and of course the street festival just outside Poe’s chamber door at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore!
Poe Fest International is a free, family-friendly weekend of events featuring Edgar Allan Poe-themed performances, art, vendors and food, celebrating Poe’s life, works and his influence in the arts. The street festival takes place at The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum at 203 N. Amity Street in Baltimore, in the newly-built “Poe Park” at Center/West. Additional exhibits, tours, and programs at several locations in Baltimore City, October 4-6.
The festival includes Poe-themed performances, vendors, booksellers and music, plus family-friendly activities, poetry and art. Attendees will also get to learn about Poe’s life and works from some of the United States’ preeminent “Poe Places”, with representatives from The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum (Baltimore), The Poe Museum (Richmond, Virginia), The Poe Cottage (Bronx Historical Society, NYC), and The Edgar Allan Poe Society of Baltimore.
General Admission to Poe Fest International is FREE. Additional tours and events require tickets. The winners of the 2024 Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards will also be announced festival weekend!
Tours inside the Edgar Allan Poe House and additional exhibits at Westminster Hall & Carroll Mansion are not included as part of the general festival program and require paid tickets.
June events from Poe Baltimore
Blame it on my historian heart, but I love marking anniversaries. 2024 is especially full of them, however, and all these numbers are a tad alarming: it’s the 175th Anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s death in Baltimore, the 75th Anniversary of the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum, the 60th Anniversary of Roger Corman’s 1964 classic horror film Masque of the Red Death starring Vincent Price, and the 200th Anniversary of the Marquis de Lafayette’s triumphant 1824 return to the United States after the Revolutionary War.
One of these things seems not like the others? <insert historian voice> Well, actually… Edgar Allan Poe’s grandparents served in the Revolutionary War and were noted by the Marquis during that eponymous visit for their contribution to the cause of Liberty. We’re excited to share plans for an upcoming exhibit, “Poe, Revolution, and the Marquis de Lafayette,” at a fundraiser in June!
Poe events are springing up all over Baltimore City as the Season begins in earnest for the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum. Along with extended schedule for weekly tours of Poe House and the return of monthly Poe’s Death in Baltimore Bus Tours, The Poe Death Exhibit and new Ghastly Galentine Pop-up Shop are now open every weekend at Carroll Mansion.
Equal parts elation and fear? That lingering dread is the knowledge our newest offering, a series of monthly speaker events at Carroll Mansion, is doomed before it even begins: Poe Baltimore is honored to host the National Edgar Allan Poe Theatre’s third annual DOOMSDAY, a 24-hour reading of Poe stories and poems. The event series will continue in June as we welcome the return of POEetic Justice, the organizers of Ravenfest in Ayrshire, Scotland, for ALLAN vs. POE, a Discussion About Fatherhood. All events are held in-person and stream live from Carroll Mansion.
It’s a lot to take in, we realize. Gird yourselves, the pressure won’t let up: deadline approaches for artists and writers to enter the Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards! Poe Baltimore is thrilled to announce this year’s slate of judges and our esteemed guest-of-honor, Mark Dawidziak, for the awards at this year’s International Edgar Allan Poe Festival. VIP Festival pre-sales are ON SALE NOW! <Insert evil laughter emoji here.>
P.S. Our commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Poe House & Museum in Baltimore continues. Each month we’re sharing facts, points of interest, and hidden history of Poe House, from its savior from demolition in 1940, to the future of the museum as we look ahead to transformation and expansion. This month we share the history of Poe House and the Edgar Allan Poe Homes Housing Project.
The International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards returns to Baltimore the weekend of October 4-6, 2024! We’re celebrating a Diamond Anniversary: 75 years honoring Poe’s legacy at the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore.
Attendees will see the return of in-person stage and vendors at Poe House. Admission to festival grounds is FREE. Additional ticketed events will take place all weekend, proceeds to benefit The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. There are many ways to celebrate Poe during festival weekend! VIP Pre-sales are open NOW and close May 31!
Donate a PAVER FOR POE in the new walkway at “Poe Park”, get first access to VIP Death Weekend Bus Tour tickets or Black Cat Ball tickets at the 2024 International Edgar Allan Poe Festival in October! Tour tickets usually sell out a month before the festival, and this is the only way to reserve this year’s tickets before they go on sale to the general public in June.
PLUS, by donating a PAVER FOR POE by May 31, you will be able to see your paver in the new “Poe Park” walkway at the festival in October this year! Personalize a 4″x8″ paver (includes 3 lines of text) or an 8″ x 8″ paver (6 lines of text) and then visit your very own piece of Poe’s legacy at Poe Fest International in October.
The “Poe Park” walkway is not only a central feature of the festival grounds, but a permanent fixture and lasting tribute to Edgar Allan Poe’s legacy in Baltimore. Visitors from around the world will see this beautiful gift just steps away from Poe’s chamber door. Paver donations support operations and programming at The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore.
Choose a Pavers for Poe Fest Int’l package:
4″ x 8″ personalized, engraved paver
A seat on the VIP Death Weekend Bus Tour (option to purchase one companion ticket at checkout)
Long-sleeve 2024 Poe Fest International T-shirt for pickup at the festival
–OR–
8″ x 8″ personalized, engraved paver
Black Cat Ball & 75th Anniversary Diamond Gala Ticket
Option to include companion ticket at discount rate!
Pavers are guaranteed to be installed in time for the 7th Annual Poe Fest International, October 4 – 6, 2024.
Proud-yet-humbled to look back at what turned out to be a transformative year for Poe Baltimore and The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum. We hope you enjoy this glance back at an extraordinary year, as well as a yearbook commemorating a decade of celebrating Edgar Allan Poe’s legacy in Baltimore & beyond. Thank you, Poe Nation, and we look forward to more in the years to come!
We at Poe Baltimore wish to thank all of you, Poe Nation, for your support and shared love of poetry, literature, and history. As we continue our 10-year retrospective of programming highlights in the Poe Baltimore yearbook, it’s clear that all we have accomplished–and all that we dream to do–only happens with the continued support of our patrons, donors, volunteers, and friends. However you contribute to our mission, past, present or future, Poe Baltimore is thankful for YOU.
Happy recognition of the 10th anniversary of our organization’s founding will roll into a jubilant year of commemoration, as 2024 marks the 75th Anniversary of the Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. We look forward to sharing some of the hidden history of Poe House, from its savior from demolition in 1949, to the future of the museum as we look ahead to transformation and expansion. And don’t forget, 2024 is also the 175th Anniversary of Edgar Allan Poe’s mysterious death in Baltimore, coinciding with the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards.
Get a sneak peek at the coming year’s programming when you donate for Giving Tuesday: ALL purchases and donations in the Poe House online gift shop through December will include a QR code link to a special festival preview and ticket opportunity!
Yours in Poe,
Enrica Jang Director, Poe Baltimore
P.S. Deadline to complete Poe-inspired works for the 2024 Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards is December 31! Like or subscribe to our Facebook and YouTube channel to be notified for the return of our LIVE Q&A and Info sessions.
It’s official: 2023 was the absolute biggest and best Poe Fest International on record! Double the vendors, double the events and tours, nearly 3000 attendees estimated over two days, our biggest crowd yet. All proceeds support the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. On the 10th aniversary of Poe Baltimore’s stewardship of the museum, thank you to everyone who made this month the biggest POE-tober since our founding.
Couldn’t join us this year? You can still see all the Poe things! Official photos from the street festival and The Black Cat Ball have posted, and for Halloween we will stream The Best of Poe Fest, a compilation of the best events and stage moments from festival weekend. The video also includes the WINNERS of the 2023 Saturday Visiter Awards. Happy Halloween, Poe Nation!
P.S. Deadline for Maryland High School students to enter the YOUNG Saturday Visiter Awards is November 17!
Baltimore, MD, July 31, 2023 – Today, Poe Baltimore, with the support of La Cite Development, announced that they have received a major investment from Wells Fargo Bank to support the Annual International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards taking place October 7 & 8, 2023. The commitment of $300,000 over a three-year period will provide for the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum’s largest program, keeping the festival a free community event and premier tourist destination for Poe-lovers from all over the world.
“Wells Fargo’s investment to the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival helps to support and maintain an important institution that not only continues Poe’s legacy, it also promotes the significance of education, the arts, and literature. This is a great opportunity for Well Fargo to contribute to the preservation of a literacy heritage for future generations to appreciate and celebrate,” said Wells Fargo Vice President and Senior Social Impact and Sustainability Specialist, Traci N. Horne. “We believe this is an opportunity for Wells Fargo to help bring excitement and legendary entertainment to a city we have supported over the years. Baltimore has been a city where Wells Fargo has been a pillar for many local nonprofit organizations and now the International Edgar Allan Poe Festival can be a part of our legacy that reflects positive impact for our communities.”
The funds for the festival will assist Poe Baltimore in expanding educational components and providing the festival with additional ways in which to partner with the community to promote art, culture, and literacy.
“We are extremely honored to work with the City of Baltimore, Poe Baltimore, and our local partners to help implement our shared vision of making communities stronger and more prosperous,” said Dan Bythewood, La Cité Development’s President. “Equally so, we are thrilled to have worked closely with Wells Fargo in securing this substantial commitment and look forward to continuing our efforts to building a broader, more inclusive neighborhood.”
Enrica Jang, Executive Director for Poe Baltimore, the nonprofit that maintains and interprets The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum, says this level of funding from Wells Fargo is transformative: “We are extremely grateful for Wells Fargo’s investment in our vision to highlight Baltimore history, gothic literature and art, as well as educational programming.”
The 6th Annual International Edgar Allan Poe Festival is set to take place this Fall, October 7 & 8, 2023. For information about the festival, visit https://poefestinternational.org.
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Poe Baltimore is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization created to fund, maintain and interpret The Edgar Allan Poe House and Museum, and to celebrate the legacy of one of Baltimore’s most famous residents. The organization is dedicated to maintaining the museum as a vibrant experience for the thousands of visitors who come from around the world each year, and as part of a broader mission of city-wide events and educational opportunities celebrating Poe’s legacy in Baltimore and beyond.
