Instead of the huge three-day event at Harbourfront Centre in Toronto (and satellite events in London and Kitchener-Waterloo), this year’s Forest of Reading festival will take place online. While the lockdown measures from COVID-19 would have made the event impossible, the live festival had already been cancelled due to Ontario’s education labour disputes.

The Ontario Library Association has announced that they have partnered with CBC Books to present a one-day, 40-minute digital ceremony for the six English awards, which will be streamed on CBC’s digital platforms. The event will take plan on Tuesday, June 16. (Details about the French awards will be released soon.)

“Having CBC Books as a partner in hosting this year’s festival is a perfect fit,” Shelagh Paterson, executive director of the Ontario Library Association, said in the press release. “For the first time, readers across the country will have a chance to participate in the Festival and to hear from their favourite Canadian authors and illustrators.”