Wordfest’s annual Reading in the Wild event drew hundreds to Central Memorial Park on June 24, celebrating the written word as a way to connect with friends and the wider Calgary community.

Although the sunny skies and warm weather made it a more mild than wild afternoon, the success of the event underpinned the importance of showing the possibilities of what can be done in public spaces.

Shelley Youngblut, CEO of Wordfest, said that holding Reading in the Wild began after seeing people taking the time to read outdoors.

“We started an initiative a year ago where we started to capture people reading in the wild, kind of like this ‘oh my god, somebody’s reading a book in public.’ It turns out, lots of people read in public.”

The demand for the Reading in the Wild event has grown, with the number of people RSVPing for the event tripling to nearly 1,000 in 2025.

Part of the reason why that number has grown, and why Wordfest only does the event once a year, said Youngblut, was to build a sense of excitement around reading.

She said getting that many Calgarians together to read outdoors was about creating a movement.

“Every single person in this park is making Calgary better just by being here, and look at the variety of people, all ages, all backgrounds,” Youngblut said.

One of the people taking part in the event was Shannon Pyke, who said that she was a frequent Wordfester.

“It’s really nice to enjoy the beautiful flowers and the beautiful summer day, live music. It’s just a great event that they put on,” she said.

“It’s nice just to read a couple of pages and then talk to people around you and listen to a couple of songs.”

Sandy Brown, who joined Pyke for the afternoon of reading, said that she didn’t require an excuse to read outdoors, but the event was a nice reason nevertheless.

“It just gives me a lot of hope that people are reading and enjoying books and getting into it, and realizing that people are doing it, too. Talking about a book you’re reading is another favourite thing,” Brown said.

Appropriately, Brown said she was reading a book called On Seeing.

“It’s on looking around you and realizing you know what you’re missing when you’re just looking at your phone,” she said.

Youngblut said that Calgarians looking to read outdoors in the community can find similar events from booksellers like Slow Burn Books in Marda Loop, and through the Calgary Public Library.