The Festival commemorates the great American Poet James Gates Percival.
Born in Berlin, Connecticut, James Gate Percival is considered the father of modern American Poetry.
In the 1850s, Percival relocated from New England to work for the American Mining Company in Galena, Illinois and settled in nearby Hazel Green, Wisconsin. He is considered the first poet of Illinois and Wisconsin.

This annual festival is held in the Historic Landmark City of Galena, Illinois, which was founded in 1828 and nestled in the Upper Mississippi River Valley at the Tri-State region of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

The Magnificent Mississippi River is minutes away. The City of Galena and its unique physical location in the pre-historic unglaciated or Driftless Region along the Mississippi River, together with the rolling hills, history, and 19th-Century architecture, has attracted artists, painters, and writers to Galena for over 100 years. For decades, the City of Galena attracted such literary figures such as Chicago writers Nelson Algren and Janet Ayer Fairbank who worked in the city.  In the 1920s, the famed early 20th-Century sculptor, Lorado Taft summered in Galena.

This festival showcases a variety of extraordinary local and regional poets, and engages the public through readings, workshops, panels, music, and visual arts in the backdrop of the historic city.
Each year, the Festival honors an important international and national poets and that poet’s contribution to contemporary literature.A highlight of the festival poetry are readings in National Landmarks, historic buildings, and libraries.