About Us:

Lowell Celebrates Kerouac! Inc. (LCK!) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote a better understanding and appreciation of Jack Kerouac's life and literature. Founded in 1985, LCK! sponsors literary programs year round, including a festival in the first weekend of October. We also produce a spring program tied to Kerouac's March 12th birthday, as well as other educational and cultural activities. LCK! volunteers help maintain Kerouac Park and Jack Kerouac Commemorative in Downtown Lowell.

The October Festival features tours of Kerouac's Lowell places - including many sites describes in his Lowell-based novels-panel discussions, reading, jazz and folk music, films, open mike events, as high poetry competition, book signings, and more. Kerouac fans and scholars from across the United States and around the world travel to Lowell for the festival.

Writers, musicians, and scholars who have participated over the years include Allen Ginsberg, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Robert Creeley, David Amram, Gregory Corso, Anne Waldman, Patti Smith, Michael McClure, Ray Mazarek, Herbert Huncke, Ann Charters, Douglas Brinkley, Willie Alexander, Diane DiPrima, Regina Weinreich, Ed Sanders, Joyce Johnson, Ann Douglas, Sterling Lord, and John Sinclair.

LCK! has formed partnerships with many educational, cultural, social, and civic organizations in Lowell. Our activities are coordinated by volunteers and paid for by individual donations, corporate gifts, grants, and sale of books and T-shirts