Tucson Festival of Books 2019

 

This weekend is the 11th year of Tucson’s annual festival of books. It is held on the campus of the University of Arizona during the school’s Spring Break. It is free to everyone. Festival walk vendors, seminars, workshops, presentations by authors, hands-on stuff for kids - everything is free. There is even free parking if you look for it. If you want the easy way, garage parking is only $5. There are, of course, lots of books and good food to buy, if you like. If you are a collector, there are a zillion authors signing their books for free (bring your own copy of the book or buy a copy at the fest). The proceeds of sales are used to support local literacy non-profit organizations. All of the festival people are volunteers, from organizers to clean up crew. No one is paid, not even the authors. Some of the famous authors are on book tours, of course, and their publishers are paying their expenses, but the festival does not pay them.  

 

 

 

I took this picture at midday yesterday. It is a great time to visit Tucson, typically blue skies and temperatures in the 70s. There is a touch of snow in the Rincon mountains in the distance, just enough to make it pretty. Hiking up to the waterfalls in the Rincons, Reddington Pass, or Sabino Canyon is great this time of year.

 

I heard several wonderful author presentations yesterday. There are hundreds of them; so, there is definitely something for everyone.

 

This year it seemed there were double the number of events for children and teens. Even the things they have had for years like the youth acrobats, the science hands-on exhibits, and the writing and drawing workshops (led by authors of children/young adult books) were more plentiful.

 

If you love books, this is the place to be!