The laughter of children filled Victoria Park as crowds of families took part in the 27th Children’s Reading Festival in Hamilton on Saturday.

The free gathering, organised by the Bermuda Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc, invited families to share the love of reading.

There were also arts and crafts and children had the opportunity to play with puppies.

Festival chairwoman Kievone Simmons was delighted with the turnout

She said: “I am very happy to see all of these smiling faces. It makes all the work worth the while when you see these children running up to the face painting or the fun castle or for the gazebo, where they get to listen to a book read by a storyteller, or even a Bermudian who wrote the book.

“It’s exciting getting to see them raise their hands and ask questions.”

The annual gathering aims to foster a love of reading among the island’s young people.

Ms Simmons explained: “We want to show children that literacy is not just about the book, it’s about the whole world. Everything that we do is infused with literacy or reading in some way.”

Across the park, students were challenged to take on games, test their artistic skills and delve into free donated books.

Community groups including Planet Math, Kaleidoscope and the Bermuda Centre for Creative Learning hosted booths with a range of literacy-focused activities, while the sponsor, OR Royalties International, offered children backpacks with school supplies.

Amy DaCosta, director of the Core Reading Programme at the Reading Centre, said that the organisation was happy to help spread the message.

She added: “We are also helping parents to learn a little bit about dyslexia, which can really affect how children learn to read and write.

“The turnout is great. It’s wonderful. I know we had a lot of bad weather, so it is nice to see so many families come out, spreading the message and getting kids excited about reading.”

Lindsey Sirju, BCCL cofounder and head of school, said the festival delivered every year.

She said: “There are a lot of resources for families, a lot of free opportunities for children to play games and win prizes. It’s just a fantastic event.”

BCCL used the occasion to help raise dyslexia awareness.

Ms Sirju said: “We have games that have true and false answers, games that have myths and facts; we have information and students can win prizes.

“We are trying to spread awareness about what dyslexia looks like and doesn’t look like in our community.”