The 2026 Bloomsday Festival

Welcome to the 2026 Bloomsday Festival! Every June 16, we gather together to read from Joyce’s Ulysses. It’s a beloved and foundational event for this institution, the home of Joyce’s manuscript of a novel that continues to inspire, scandalize, and thrill. We’re delighted to announce several updates to the festival, inspired by feedback we received from you at last year’s event, with some additional special events. These updates invite more participation and create greater access to the Rosenbach’s collection: • The Bloomsday public reading will begin at 1:00 p.m. on Delancey Place. • Reader spots are open to the public again this year! • We will open the museum and historic house to present guided tours of our galleries and special presentations of collection materials! See the full schedule below. Registration opens April 16, 2026. • After our Delancey Place readings end at 5:00 p.m., we’ll enjoy a special one-woman performance. Molly’s Soliloquy at Sunset begins at 6:00 p.m. and will feature Philadelphia actor Kirsten Quinn! • Many of our Bloomsday readings, presentations, and performances are FREE to attend— We’ll see you June 16!   Bloomsday Program Schedule Registration opens for readers on April 23, 2026 1:00 p.m. Ulysses readings begin on Delancey Place in front of the Rosenbach Museum & Library Register individually for each of the guided programs you’d like to attend Registration opens for programs on April 16, 2026 (Space is limited!) 2:00 p.m. Collection Presentation: The Influence of Antiquity on James Joyce’s Ulysses ($15; registration required)  From his choice of title to the novel’s epic format, thematic organization, characters’ roles, and details of prose style, Joyce relied on classical antiquity’s literary epics, Homer’s Odyssey and Virgil’s Aeneid, to create his masterpiece. In this presentation, you will see and hear selections from these ancient works and examine paired passages from Ulysses that were influenced by them.  No knowledge of ancient languages or literature is needed to engage fully in this object-based discussion.   2:30 p.m. Treasures Gallery Talk: Literature of Great Britain & Ireland (free; registration encouraged)  Voyage through five centuries of literature from Great Britain and Ireland. This curator-led walk around the Treasures gallery will explore the evolution of books and storytelling from 15th-century England through the centuries, finally arriving at the manuscript of James Joyce's Ulysses. Discover remarkable treasures from the Rosenbach’s collection in the company of fellow book lovers!    3:00 p.m. Treasures Gallery Talk:  History & Literature of the Americas (free; registration encouraged)  As the United States approaches its 250th birthday, step inside the third and final addition to the Rosenbach’s permanent exhibition, Treasures: History & Literature of the Americas. Join the project’s lead curator on a tour through centuries of American history as we view a multifacete...