[1] The festival immerses audiences and more than five dozen internationally acclaimed poets in discussions, readings, and conversations focusing on poetry.

The announcement noted that "We will maintain much of our work with New Jersey teachers of poetry this spring, and we will actually expand our efforts to make the audio and video archives of past Festivals readily available via YouTube and other means for all who want to enjoy them.

)"[8] Among the poets who have participated in past festivals are Chinua Achebe, Taha Muhammad Ali, Claribel Alegría, Yehuda Amichai, Jimmy Santiago Baca, Amiri Baraka, Coleman Barks, Ekiwah Adler-Belendez, Robert Bly, Gwendolyn Brooks, Marilyn Chin, Lucille Clifton, Billy Collins, Bei Dao, Toi Derricotte, Mark Doty, Rita Dove, Stephen Dunn, Nikki Giovanni, Allen Ginsberg, Jorie Graham, Linda Gregg, Donald Hall, Robert Hass, Tony Hoagland, Linda Hogan, Edward Hirsch, Galway Kinnell, Carolyn Kizer, Yusef Komunyakaa, Stanley Kunitz, Kurtis Lamkin, Li-Young Lee, Linda McCarriston, W. S. Merwin, Andrew Motion, Taslima Nasreen, Naomi Shihab Nye, Joyce Carol Oates, Sharon Olds, Alicia Ostriker, Grace Paley, Linda Pastan, Octavio Paz, Marge Piercy, Robert Pinsky, Adrienne Rich, Sonia Sanchez, Gary Snyder, William Stafford, Gerald Stern, Ruth Stone, Sekou Sundiata, Brian Turner, Ko Un, Derek Walcott, Anne Waldman, Richard Wilbur, Adam Zagajewski, and Daisy Zamora.

An essential component of each festival is a series of special programs for high school students and for teachers at all levels, elementary through college.

[citation needed] The Geraldine R. Dodge Poetry Festival has been extensively featured in four PBS television series with Bill Moyers.