2026 Lowell Celebrates Kerouac Festival
“Everybody goes home in October.”—Jack Kerouac
Pre-Festival Events
KEROUAC Beat and Counterculture Portraits
Exhibition: August 22–October 31
Opening reception: Saturday, September 12, 1:00-3:00 PM
Jonathan Collins’ portraits of Jack Kerouac and other Beat Generation figures.
Location:
Whistler House Museum of Art
243 Worthen St.
Marathon Reading of Jack Kerouac’s Satori in Paris
Saturday, October 3, 9:00 AM–12:00 PM
A marathon reading commemorating the 60th anniversary of the novel’s 1966 publication. Readers must sign-up in advance. A link will be posted on the library’s website closer to the event.
Location:
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack St., Community Room
The 2026 LCK/Kerouac Literary Festival
Thursday, October 8
3:00 PM
Presentation of research materials from Kerouac’s Nashua Connection
LCK’s Steve Edington will present research materials from his book Kerouac’s Nashua Connection to the Center for Lowell History Kerouac Archive. This event is presented in conjunction with the Center for Lowell History/Kerouac Studies Program at UMASS Lowell.
Location:
O’Leary Library
University of Massachusetts Lowell, South Campus
61 Wilder St.
4:00 PM
Book Presentation: Big American Writer: The Bilingual Kerouac
JC Cloutier will discuss his forthcoming book Big American Writer: The Bilingual Kerouac, scheduled for publication in October 2026 by Columbia University Press. This event is presented in conjunction with the Center for Lowell History/Kerouac Studies Program at UMASS Lowell.
Location:
O’Leary Library
University of Massachusetts Lowell, South Campus
61 Wilder St.
6:00 PM
Festival Opening Gathering
An informal gathering to welcome new and old friends.
Location:
Worthen House Cafe
141 Worthen St.
6:00 PM
Jack at Night Walking Tour
Led by Bill Walsh. Visit sites described in Kerouac’s book Doctor Sax including St. Jean Baptiste Church, the “Watermelon Man Bridge,” the Grotto, and Archambault Funeral Home (where Jack was waked).
Departure location:
Worthen House Cafe
141 Worthen St.
7:00 PM
Music and Poetry
Music by Mark Aleo, George Koumantzelis, and Mike Dion, with readings by Erin Piedra, Meg Smith, and Jim Dunn. Hosted by LCK’s John McDermott.
Location:
Worthen House Cafe
141 Worthen St.
Friday, October 9
9:00 AM
Coffee & Kerouac
Check in with LCK over coffee, grab a schedule, and plan your day or weekend.
Location:
Sonesta Select Hotel, Commons Room
30 Industrial Avenue East
9:30 AM
Lowell High School Annual Poetry and Prose Competition
Note: This is an LHS event and is not open to the public.
Location:
Lowell High School
11:00 AM–1:30 PM
Walking With Jack’s Franco-American Ghosts: A St. Joseph Cemetery Tour
Led by Kurt Phaneuf. Once the almost-exclusive resting place of Lowell’s French-Canadian immigrants and their descendants, St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Chelmsford, Mass., presents Kerouac readers and students with myriad connections to the Franco-American world of Jack’s hometown literary works. This year, the tour will focus on some of the most important of Jack’s writerly influences, including Louis-Alphonse Biron, Yvonne Lemaître, Joseph “Destouches” Desjardins, Fr. Armand ‘Spike’ Morrissette, and members of the Houde, Fournier, and Bertrand families.
Attendees needing a ride to the cemetery can inquire about carpooling at Coffee & Kerouac (see listing above). Those driving should meet near the cemetery office after entering the main gate on Riverneck Road. Please do not park on either side of the road near the chapel or between the chapel and office in order to ensure adequate parking for any late-morning or early-afternoon funerals. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes! Donations gratefully accepted.
Location:
St. Joseph Cemetery
96 Riverneck Road
East Chelmsford
11:00 AM
Reality Alley Poetry Workshop
Led by Dan Bacon. An open workshop for poets of all stripes and experience levels.
Location:
Worthen House Cafe, courtyard
141 Worthen St.
2:00 PM
LCK Talking Jack
An open-ended, informal conversation about Kerouac, focusing on research by Dan Bacon and Logan Hill into Jack’s many documented head injuries and the potential effect of these on Jack’s life and work.
Location:
Lala Books
16 Market Street
4:00 PM–5:30 PM
“Step Softly”: Ghosts of the Pawtucketville Night Tour
Led by Bill Walsh and Kurt Phaneuf. Walk in the spectral footsteps of Doctor Sax, Jackie Duluoz, the Black Thief, Zap Plouffe, and the Moon Man as we take a deep dive into Kerouac’s most magical, ghostly, and Lowell-rich book. From the doorway overlooking the wrinkly tar corner to the rose-scented shadows of the Grotto, visit the places that inspired some of Kerouac’s personal favorite works. Donations gratefully accepted.
Departure location:
Worthen House Cafe, courtyard
141 Worthen St.
Alternate Meeting Point (4:15 PM):
Cumnock Hall
UMass Lowell North Campus
1 University Avenue
8:00 PM
Jazz with Timo Shanko
Timo Shanko is a dual threat on both bass and saxophone and a veteran of the blues and free jazz scene. He was a founding member of the Fully Celebrated Orchestra and has performed with artists including G. Love & Special Sauce and Eddie Kirkland.
Location:
Warp & Weft
197 Market St.
Saturday, October 10
9:00 AM
Annual LCK Commemorative at the Commemorative
A gathering to honor and remember those lost in the past year in the Kerouac community, Lowell, and beyond. Those remembered this year include poet Douglas Bishop, author David Daniel, and Jami Cassady, a daughter of Neal and Carolyn Cassady.
Location:
Jack Kerouac Park
93 Bridge St.
10:00 AM
Bus Tour of Lowell Kerouac sites
Explore key Kerouac locations throughout Lowell, including his birthplace on Lupine Road, his gravesite at Edson Cemetery, and other sites featured in his Lowell novels. A $10 donation is requested to help cover bus costs.
Reservations suggested: Call 603-883-3141. Leave message saying it’s for the Lowell Bus Tour and give name and phone number.
Departure location:
Jack Kerouac Park
93 Bridge St.
10:00–11:30 AM
“All Lowell’s In The Lights”: A Walking Tour of Jack’s Downtown
Led by Kurt Phaneuf. Bookended by Jack’s favorite childhood movie theaters and the two locations of his father’s Spotlight Print shop, this tour takes in some of the key downtown places Kerouac writes about in his hometown novels. Celebrate Kerouac the Cinephile, Kerouac the Student, Kerouac the Athlete, and Kerouac the Romantic as we investigate works including The Town And The City, Doctor Sax, Memory Babe, Maggie Cassidy, and Vanity Of Duluoz. Donations gratefully accepted.
Departure location:
Jack Kerouac Park
93 Bridge St.
12:00 PM
LCK Talking Jack: Cathy Cassady—My Life with Mom and Dad
Cathy Cassady, in conversation with Steve Edington, will recreate some of the conversation they recorded for an issue of Beat Scene Magazine. In it, Cathy spoke of her memories of her father Neal, and of her often challenging relationship with her mother, Carolyn. Cathy will also read some passages from her book Poetic Portrait which is a collection of Carolyn Cassady’s poetry and prose with commentary from Cathy.
Location:
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack St., Community Room
1:00 PM
Kerouac’s Library Haunts and Hooky Tour
Led by Bill Walsh. Learn about the times Jack played hooky from Lowell High School in order to read books of his choosing. The tour features the library’s Kerouac corner. Donations gratefully accepted.
Location:
Pollard Memorial Library
401 Merrimack St.
2:00 PM
LCK / Moses Greeley Parker Lecture
Jonathan Collins: “KEROUAC Beat and Counterculture Portraits”
Jonathan Collins will discuss his portrait series now on display at the Whistler House in Lowell (see pre-festival event listing.
Collins began his lifelong quest of creating art at the age of 3, when handed a pencil and pad. Throughout his childhood, drawing consumed him as he created hundreds of charcoal portraits of 1930’s movie stars. In 1987, Collins began using watercolors, and soon developed his own vision and concepts, studying the techniques of Albrecht Durer, Johannes van Eyck, and other early Flemish and Dutch master painters.
Collins received a full scholarship to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts in 1988, and then he received the first of two Elizabeth Greenshields grants (a private Arts Foundation in Quebec, Canada) in 1990 and in 1992. Collins, while on his aesthetic journey, traveled throughout North America and Europe immersing himself in baroque art and architecture.
In 2013, the Paterson Museum in New Jersey displayed a one-man exhibit of Collins’ work called THE BEAT TRAVELER series, featuring landscape paintings of key Beat Generation locales, including: Paterson, New Jersey, Lowell , Massachusetts, and San Francisco, California.
He has been working on his Beat and Counterculture portrait series since 2023.
Location:
Whistler House Museum of Art
243 Worthen St.
4:00 PM
Open Mic
Sign-up to read poems and stories. Emceed by Dan Bacon and hosted by LCK’s Cliff Whalen.
Location:
Worthen House Cafe, upstairs
141 Worthen St.
5:00 PM–7:00 PM
Documentary screening
Filmmaker Jesse Block will share clips from his interviews with Beat and other counterculture figures.
Location:
Middlesex Community College Academic Arts Center, Recital Hall
240 Central Street
7:30–9:00 PM
David Amram Jazz Band
Legendary jazz man and Kerouac collaborator David Amram returns to LCK with Kevin Twigg on drums, Rene Hart on bass, Jerome Harris on guitar, Adam Amram on percussion.
Location:
Middlesex Community College Academic Arts Center, Recital Hall
240 Central Street
Sunday, October 11
10:00–11:30 AM
Mystic Jack Tour
Led by Bill Walsh and Kurt Phaneuf. A few small blocks of Centralville just north of the Merrimack River contain the sacred germ of Jack’s most beloved and deeply-personal novel, the heartbreaking Visions Of Gerard. Explore Gerard’s “little streets,” his school, his parables, and the stereoscopic spirituality of Kerouac’s most deceptively simple book. Donations gratefully accepted.
Departure location:
Former St. Louis de France Church
241 West 6th St.
9:30 AM-12:00 PM
Kerouac’s Nashua Connection Van Tour
Led by Steve Edington. Visit some of the sites in Nashua, New Hampshire that Kerouac describes in his Lowell novels. The final stop is the St. Louis de Gonzague Cemetery where Leo, Gabrielle, Gerard, and Jan Kerouac are laid to rest. Donations gratefully accepted.
Reservations suggested: Call 603-883-3141. Leave your name and number and say it’s for the Nashua Tour.
Location:
Worthen House Cafe, upstairs
141 Worthen St.
12:00-1:00 PM
Baby Driver book discussion
Jan Kerouac’s 1981 novel Baby Driver chronicles an unconventional life distinct from her famous father’s. In honor of its reissue last year, this informal event will focus on Jan’s life and work. Participants are encouraged to read the book ahead of time and share their thoughts. Hosted by LCK’s Amy Roeder and Maine Beat Poet Laureate Claire Conroy.
Location:
Lala Books
16 Market Street
1:30–4:00 PM
Annual Amram Jam
Sign-ups begin at 1:00 and will also be taken at the Baby Driver book discussion.
Bring your Kerouac-inspired poetry or prose and read while accompanied by David Amram and his band. Emceed by Wireless Mike Flynn
Location:
HIVE Public Market
101 Paige St.
5:00 PM
Featured Poetry Reading: Ed Sanders
Poet and activist Ed Sanders Sanders helped bridge the concerns of Beat poetry and the countercultural movement of the 1960s. His work is deeply influenced by Dylan Thomas, Ezra Pound, and Allen Ginsberg. Sanders is a founding member of the subversive, satirical folk-rock music group the Fugs,
Sanders grew up in Blue Springs, Missouri. He studied at the University of Missouri and New York University and earned a BA in ancient Greek. After college Sanders stayed in New York City, where he opened the Peace Eye Bookstore and started Fuck You: A Magazine of the Arts. He currently lives in Woodstock, New York.
Location:
HIVE Public Market
101 Paige St.
Monday, October 12
10:00 AM
LCK Loop Tour
Led by Bill Walsh. A final festival walk through Kerouac’s Lowell. The tour ends at the Worthen House Cafe.
Departure location:
Jack Kerouac Park
93 Bridge St.
12:00 PM
LCK Talking Jack: Kerouac’s haikus with Regina Weinreich
Regina Weinreich, a filmmaker and widely published culture critic, is the author of Kerouac’s Spontaneous Poetics (1987), one of the earliest full-scale critical studies of Jack Kerouac’s literary work. She edited and compiled Kerouac’s Book of Haikus and wrote the introduction to Kerouac’s You’re a Genius All the Time. She co-produced/ directed the documentary PAUL BOWLES: THE COMPLETE OUTSIDER and co-wrote THE BEAT GENERATION: AN AMERICAN DREAM. On the faculty of the Department of Humanities and Sciences at The School of Visual Arts since 1976, she teaches courses in Beat literature and aesthetics.
Location:
Lala Books
16 Market Street
2:00 PM (approximately)
Wrap party at the Worthen
Join festival participants for a final gathering.
Safe travels home—and see you next year!
Location:
Worthen House Cafe
141 Worthen St.
Post-festival events
October 16-18
Poe in Lowell Festival
Edgar Allan Poe visited Lowell three times, in journeys of history and mystery. Celebrate Poe’s legacy with readings of his work and more: https://linktr.ee/poeinlowell
October 21
Jack Kerouac Memorial Walk
To mark the passing of Jack Kerouac on October 21, 1969, in St. Petersburg, Florida, LCK holds a memorial walk in his memory. Sites include the former Archambault Funeral Home where he was waked, and St. Jean Baptiste Church where his funeral mass was held. The walk ends at the Worthen House Cafe.
Departure location:
The Grotto
20 School St.