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.
Doom and Deadlines at Poe House
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.
Poe was Irish on his father’s side, his great-grandfather and grandfather having immigrated to Baltimore from County Cavan, Ireland. This month we’re celebrating those Irish roots and poetical tradition with a Pints for Poe: Dead Irish Poets Edition party to kick-off St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Dead Irish poet-ry readings and traditional Irish music are promised, and this event is sponsored by Baltimore’s own RavenBeer.
Poe Programs will continue at Carroll Mansion this season: we’ve partnered with Carroll Museums to open the historic Carroll Mansion & Phoenix Shot Tower for weekend tours from April thru November. Visit The Poe Death Exhibit and new Ghastly Galentine Pop-up Shop at Carroll Mansion starting April 6: each ticket includes the exhibit, a mansion tour and drop-in access to the Shot Tower. More events, parties, readings and chamber concerts TBA.
Springing forward, next month Poe House will open expanded hours once more, Wednesday thru Sunday. We’re also bringing back monthly bus tours of Edgar Allan Poe’s Baltimore. Stops include Poe House, the site of Poe’s Death, and Poe’s grave and monument at Westminster Hall. Add the Death exhibit and mansion/tower tours for only $6.
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 delve deeper into the scholarly effort by May Garrettson Evans to research and save Poe House.
Last month we saw a huge outpouring of support from you, Poe Nation, at a time it was truly needed. This month’s newsletter is a Valentine to all the ticket-donors and supporters who exceeded our goal with $7K raised for Poe House for Poe’s 215th Birthday. It takes more than love to keep our mission going, and these wonderful people contributed.
Very special thanks to Chris Riehl at Baltimore Rent-A-Tour, Academy Buses, and Westminster Hall, as well as the team at the NSA’s National Cryptologic Museum and Poe’s Magic Theatre for rescheduling for next year!
Finally, the focus in February is on Valentines, but as we’ve seen, love comes in many forms, including friendship and inspiration. To that end, our Ghastly Galentine’s Pop-up Shopping Event is next week; tickets are moving fast. And call for entries has opened for the 2024 Saturday ‘Visiter’ Awards, recognizing a new generation of artists and writers inspired by Poe. If you are moved to support your literary love, be our Valentine this and every month.
Common sentiment to feel a bit beleaguered after the mad season of the holidays and return to work and school. But beleaguered is bread and butter for us, Poe Nation. Plus there’s little time to feel weary as January is jam-packed with events as we close in on celebrations for Edgar Allan Poe’s 215th Birthday!
Can’t be in Baltimore? The Poe Museum Richmond & The Poe Cottage in NY have birthday celebrations, too!
And finally, we’re very proud to kick off commemoration of the 75th Anniversary of the Poe House & Museum in Baltimore. Each month we’ll share 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. We begin with a list of great events in literary history from 1949, the first year Poe House was opened to the public–read the newsletter here!
Yours in Poe, Enrica Jang Director, Poe Baltimore
P.S. We’re planning a “Ghastly Galentine” event at Carroll Mansion, February 13. Tickets on sale next Friday!
A WellSPRING at Poe
Wherever you are, Poe Nation, you too are more than likely experiencing some kind of maddening weather. Warmer temperatures in Baltimore = a rising pollen count + an uptick in visitors darkening Poe’s chamber door at Amity Street. The season has officially begun!
The 2020 International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards is streaming LIVE the weekend of October 3 & 4th, commemorating the 171st anniversary of Poe’s Death in Baltimore. Watch for FREE on Facebook & YouTube Live.
Streaming program for Saturday & Sunday has posted! A coffin-building workshop. A POE-vid mask tutorial. A Tell-Tale Heart Interactive mock trial. Art demos, theatrical performances, secret codes, even a special Sunday Brunch with Edgar Allan Poe’s mother (the woman is dead, but that shouldn’t spoil brunch.) See our list of events right here. More details added as we get closer to DEATH WEEKEND.
Add-on experiences also available, including the Poe in Film & Fashion Virtual Exhibit, NEW this year in addition to Virtual Tours of the Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum, and the Death Weekend Poe Places Virtual Tour of Poe’s Baltimore.
A wonderful thing happened November 30: The Edgar Allan Poe House & Museum welcomed our 13,000th visitor of the year! With one month in 2019 still to go, we look forward to setting a NEW record for visitors to 203 N. Amity Street in a single year. (Even more extraordinary, consider that this number does not even include the thousands who made their way to Poe Fest International this past October.)
Tremendous traffic calls for tremendous support to ensure that this highly popular West Baltimore landmark survives and thrives. Careful historic preservation is ongoing at Poe House. Annual programs preserve Poe’s legacy well beyond the humble 620 square feet where his literary career began. A new decade will bring new challenges but, with your help, we will sustain our “Poe-mentum” as visitor-ship continues to grow.
December marks the return of our Poe-nation Donation Holiday Drive. Please make Poe Baltimore part of your Holiday and end-of-year giving with a paver, purchase or recurring donation before December 31. Stop into the shop (at Poe House or online) to pick up perfect presents for your favorite Poe-head. And don’t miss the final Poe House Presents reading for 2019 with author (and long-serving Poe House volunteer) Mary Tighlman!
Yours in Poe, Enrica Jang Director, Poe Baltimore
Click to read our latest newsletter!
Our crowd estimate came in at nearly 2000 people who attended the inaugural International Edgar Allan Poe Festival & Awards and made our event a resounding success! We’ve posted photos at PoeBaltimore.org and even more from the Poe Funeral re-enactment and The Black Cat Ball on Facebook, so be sure to take a peek. Also included are pictures from the sold-out Halloween Encore at The Carroll Mansion!
