ARTSPEAKSgnv presents the 3rd Annual BARD & Broadside: North Central Florida Poetry Festival

Press release from ARTSPEAKSgnv, Inc.

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – ARTSPEAKSgnv, Inc. presents the 3rd Annual BARD & Broadside: North Central Florida Poetry Festival. The Festival will take place April 5 – 26, 2025, at several locations in Gainesville, FL. The multi-day poetry festival will feature poetry readings, creative writing workshops, storytelling, a youth poetry/monologue competition, community open mics, the Swamp-Berry Jam Poetry Slam, music, and more.  

This year’s festival theme is “Where We Live: DISCOVER 200.” All festival events are free and open to the public.                                                       

Schedule of Events

Saturday, April 5th / 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – “WORD SLAY: Standing on Words” 
Teen/spoken-word, poetry, and monologue competition.                                                              
Alachua County Library District Headquarters, 401 E. University Ave. Gainesville, FL.  

Tuesday, April 8th / 11:30 a.m. – “PROCLAMATION for National Poetry Month”
Alachua County Board of County Commission Regular Meeting.
Alachua County Administration Building (Jack Durrance Auditorium), 12 SE 1st St. 2nd Floor, Gainesville, FL.

Tuesday, April 8th / 6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. – “Where We Live: 200 Years in Community”
An Exploration of Eden through the Humanities. 
A panel discussion with community members, artists, scholars, and historians.                                         The Matheson History Museum of Alachua County, 513 E. University Ave. Gainesville, FL.

Thursday, April 10th / 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. – “MUSEUM NIGHTS: Community Open Mic at the Harn Museum of Art”
Join our local poetry community along with University of Florida and Santa Fe College creative writing students for an evening of poetry, prose, spoken word, and storytelling.                                                           Harn Museum of Art, 259 Hull Rd., Gainesville, FL.

Friday, April 11th  /  6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.  – “FREE FRIDAYS: Music and Poetry at Bo Diddley Plaza”  Featuring: BENNIE & THE BAND. Attendees are invited to share their poems on stage during the open mic intermission.                                                                                                 
Bo Diddley Plaza, 111 E. University Ave. Gainesville, FL. 

Saturday, April 12th / 6:30 p.m. – 11:30 p.m.  – “SWAMP-BERRY JAM: POETRY SLAM”     
North Central Florida’s Premier Poetry Slam, featuring America’s best slam poets and spoken-word artists as they compete for the title of  “Swamp-Berry Jam Slam Champion” 
VECINOS Neighborhood Restaurant and Bar, 208 W University Ave. Gainesville, FL

Sunday, April 13th / 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. – (Free) “Community Poetry and Creative Writing Workshop” Award-Winning Poet Lola Haskins will conduct a poetry and creative writing workshop.                                Alachua County Library District Headquarters, 401 E. University Ave. Gainesville, FL 

Sunday, April 13th / 3:30 p.m. – “Poetry Reading and Book Signing”
Award-Winning Poet Lola Haskins will read from new and collected works, followed by a book signing.       Alachua County Library District Headquarters, 401 E University Ave., Gainesville, FL

Saturday, April 26th /  (Time TBA) – “NEA BIG READ / (Youth) Text & Image Workshop”        
Visual Artist Patrick Grigsby (University of Florida Art + Art History) and E. Stanley Richardson ( Poet Laureate / Alachua County, FL), in collaboration with University of Florida Smathers Library, will conduct a Text & Image Workshop for area students.                      
Alachua County Library District Headquarters, 401 E University Ave. Gainesville, FL