Virtual Festival Platform

The FOLD’s virtual festival is hosted on an interactive platform that recreates an in-person festival experience. The platform opens on Thursday, April 24, giving you access to the full festival schedule, Info Desk, Exhibit Hall, Lounge, and more!

Live panel discussions, workshops, trivia events, and after-parties begin on Sunday, April 27 and run until Wednesday, April 30.

When you first log in, you will arrive at an exterior lobby designed to look like the courtyard of the Rose Theatre in Brampton. Click on the Rose Theatre entrance to be taken to the interior lobby.

From interior lobby, you can visit the Info Desk to watch a video about how to navigate the platform. You can also contact the platform’s technical support team for technical issue or the FOLD team for programming questions.

The Auditorium will be where all virtual events take place. Once you enter, click on the screen to go to the festival’s virtual schedule.

You can browse the schedule to find events that pique your interest, click on speaker photos to learn more about them, add events to your own customized schedule, and download the event to be added to your personal calendar. You can even toggle the time zone setting to see event dates and times in your local time zone.

A few minutes before events go live, a JOIN button will appear. Click on the button to be taken into the event.

The Exhibit Hall is where you can learn more about publishing organizations, including FOLD sponsors and partners. Each participating exhibitor has designed their virtual booth to provide information about their organization, as well as resources for writers, readers, and educators.

If you find a resource you like, add it to your Tote Bag so it’ll be easy to find later!

For 2025, confirmed exhibitors include:

• Penguin Random House
• Simon and Schuster
• HarperCollins
• Harlequin
• ECW Press
• University of Guelph CW MFA
• Second Story Press
• Ontario Arts Council
• FOLD
• Another Story Bookshop
• Westwood Creative Artists
• Sick Stories
• Trace Press
• Kegedonce Press
• Firefly Creative Writing
• University of Regina Press

Roundtables let you interact with other festival attendees, authors and speakers, and exhibitors during live scheduled sessions.

This is where you’ll go after each panel discussion for after-parties. You’ll be able to meet the authors, ask them questions, and continue the conversation with other festival attendees.

Roundtables are also home to the annual Writer’s Hub event, where aspiring authors can meet with publishers and other writing organizations. The Writer’s Hub will be held on Sunday, April 27 from 3:30pm – 5:00pm ET. Please visit the Writer’s Hub page for more information.

The FOLD wouldn’t be the FOLD without prizes!

For a chance to win fantastic prize packs, you can rack up points on the platform leaderboard. You can earn points simply by logging in, then by visiting the different areas of the platform, watching videos, and interacting with other attendees.

Prices can include author visits to book clubs, manuscript reviews, FOLD merch, and of course, books!

Download the vFairs app to participate in the FOLD on the go!

The mobile-friendly version of the platform allows you to watch live events on the go, chat with other attendees, and visit the virtual Exhibit Hall. Anything you can do in the web browser, you can also do in the app!

Available for both Apple and Android phones, you can log into the vFairs app using the same email and password as the desktop platform.