2024 CALF welcomed registrants from the most states ever

JUNE 17, 2024 - The Children’s Art + Literacy Festival presented by the Abilene Cultural Affairs Council registered 5,458 people for the June 13-16 festival, and they hailed from 156 Texas cities and 28 states. This is the most states represented ever in CALF’s 12-year history, beating last year’s record of 21 states. This year’s festival also broke another record, earning the most revenue in our history.

The festival started Thursday with Group Day followed by the Storybook Parade and unveiling of the newest Storybook Sculpture, “Itty-Bitty Kitty-Corn and Unicorn,” inspired by the book series written by Shannon Hale and illustrated by CALF honoree LeUyen Pham, who was in Abilene for the celebrations and the opening of her exhibition at the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature. Her exhibition will be on exhibit through Sept. 13. All the festival books and imagery celebrated LeUyen’s work. The festival continued Friday and Saturday with book readings, shows, workshops, train rides and other fun. The festival concluded Sunday morning at the Abilene Zoo with additional programming and Animal Encounters.

People can see the new Storybook Sculpture in the Adamson-Spalding Storybook Garden. Abilene is home to the largest Storybook Sculpture collection of its kind in America if not the world and is one of the reasons this city is the official Storybook Capital of America©.

Next year’s CALF honoree and summer NCCIL artist will be award-winning artist/author Dan Santat. Mark your calendars for June 12-15, 2025.

Feedback from CALF 2024 has been amazing! We want to share this story from a Lubbock family:

“We left Abilene today with pep in our step and lumps in our throats. I cried tears of joy every single day of CALF. Thank you for pulling out all the stops and making West Texas proud. Our kids were wide-eyed and giddy all weekend, not wanting to miss a single thing. Poppy loved the sculpture unveiling and probably took out a donor or two in her push to get to the front for the action. We revisited the statue every day. Wallace loved the character breakfast and the experience of seeing so many characters come to life.  He also took to the readings like never before. Four is a magical age.
The thing that stood out to me this year was the West Texas charm and grit. This is not a festival for out-of-town vendors to sell their wares…or for carneys to peddle their rides…or for snobby performers to be divas. This is a festival of authentic West Texans showing off their city, putting their money behind an event for the good of the children and the good of the community. It’s hundreds of volunteers pulling together to dot every i and cross every t.
My family feels like we’ve won the lottery of proximity. Being 2 1/2 hours from CALF is amazing. We absolutely love soaking in all of the city and enjoying the amenities of downtown without the trouble of a flight or a long-distance drive.
The Caldecott of festivals, whatever that could be called, should most certainly go to your team. Congratulations on a job well done.
With sincerity and thankfulness,
The Henry Family