2025-2026 Illinois Poetry Out Loud Regional Contest Schedule
Central Region
Contest Date: Thursday, February 12, 2026
Contest Start Time: 4:00 PM
Contest Location: Peggy Ryder Theater, Hoogland Center for the Arts
420 S. Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701 For more information contact: Sheila Walk at programs@springfieldartsco.orgor 217/753-3519
Chicago City Schools
TBD
Chicago Metro/Suburban
TBD
Eastern Region
TBD
Northern Region
TBD
Southern Region
TBD
Western Region
TBD
Statewide Illinois POL Contest
Contest Date: March 2, 2026
Contest Start Time: 10:00 AM
Contest Location: LRS Theater, Hoogland Center for the Arts
420 S. Sixth St., Springfield, IL 62701 For more information contact: Sheila Walk, programs@springfieldartsco.orgor 217/753-3519
The Competition Process
All Illinois regional Poetry Out Loud contests are held throughout the month of February. The Illinois state contest is scheduled for March 2 in Springfield. The national contest is scheduled for April 27-29 2026, in Washington, D.C.
Generally, each state contest winner must register to participate in the national contest approximately six weeks prior to the national contest date. The exact date for national contest registration will be provided to the Illinois state contest winner after the state contest concludes.
Teachers and students should plan on spending approximately three weeks on the POL curriculum materials and preparing for their school’s contest. Consider the timing of the regional contest for your school when planning the introduction of the POL curriculum and scheduling a school contest.
Students must participate in a school-level contest prior to competing in a regional contest. All regional contests require that schools register with the regional POL coordinator, the name of their school’s contest winner, and the poems to be recited.
Eligibility rules, lesson plans, tips for organizing contests, examples of students' recitations, and the list of poems approved to be recited during school, regional, and national contests, etc., can be found on the official Poetry Out Loud website: www.poetryoutloud.org. Be mindful that the list of approved poems changes every year.
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