Downtown Courtenay BIA in association with Artful : The Poets
present
POEM-PALOOZA 2026
as part of the 4th annual Downtown Poetry Walk

April is National Poetry Month and Courtenay’s award-winning Downtown Poetry Walk is back for a fourth year, offering a shimmering selection of poems inspired by this year’s theme: Land and Sea.

Twenty-five local poets, ranging in age from 12 to over 80, have written poems for twenty-five businesses located throughout 4th, 5th and 6th Streets, as well as Cliffe and Duncan Avenues.

Poems will be hand-painted on shop windows by artists Landon Arora Norris and Nate Schmold for everyone to enjoy while strolling downtown throughout the month of April. Recordings of the poems, read by their authors, will also be available to listen to on the Downtown Courtenay BIA website, along with biographies of the participating poets.

This year’s Poetry Walk also brings back POEM-PALOOZA , a free, family-friendly event at the Courtenay Library, on Saturday, April 11th, beginning with an interactive Pop-Up Poetry Booth, from 2:30 – 3:30 p.m., where four poets will be writing brand new poems for anyone who wants one, followed by a Showcase Reading by many of the Poetry Walk poets, from 3:30 – 5:00 p.m.

The Downtown Poetry Walk, curated by Carys Owen, with event organization by Diana Kolpak, is an initiative of the Downtown Courtenay Business Improvement Association.