Third Annual Festival Of Books Brings Over 100 Authors To San Diego
Speaker 1: 00:00 It's a celebration for readers of all tastes and all ages. The third annual San Diego Union Tribune festival of books takes place tomorrow at Liberty Station. More than 20,000 people are expected at the event which will host more than a hundred authors, including best-selling writers like Sandra Brown and t Jefferson, Parker and acclaimed novelists like Luis Alberto Raya. In addition, KPBS and its partners will announce the winner of this year's one book, one San Diego contest. Joining me is Britain vets skate director of events at the San Diego Union Tribune. And Bert, welcome to the program. Thank you for having me. This is turning into a major summer event in San Diego, isn't it? It is. We're very excited for tomorrow. And you expect the number of attendees to grow this year? It's been growing each year? Yeah, it's been growing out year after year. Speaker 2: 00:52 Um, I would say that the first year we had about 8,000 and the next year between 10 and 15 so we're thinking between 15 and 20 this year. Speaker 1: 01:01 Wow. How was the festival of books set up at liberty station? Is it all open air or are there event halls? So there are Speaker 2: 01:08 vent halls and panel sessions, the um, festivals all out doors, um, right at the Luci Court area. And we actually expanded this year over to the south promenade where most of our children's programming will be as well as an entertainment stage, some games and uh, some food vendors. Speaker 1: 01:26 Give us an idea of the types of main events taking place this year. Speaker 2: 01:30 Sure. So, um, we have some great headliners. Um, we have Sandra Brown who is a bestselling thriller romance writer and she'll be, I'm onstage with t Jefferson Parker who's a local thriller writer, so we're excited to put them two together. Um, we also have, uh, Jerry Kraft is a graphic novelist and he, um, comes over from the east coast. He has a syndicated comic and he just wrote this book called new kid and it's really a nice graphic novel that's targeted to middle grade kids. And um, they're saying there's been such reviews as, you know, every middle school grade kid should read this book. Um, and it's about the struggles of moving to a new school and fitting in. So I think that'll be a, a great panel for parents with teenagers that come over to the festival, Speaker 1: 02:18 but people can just wander around the bookstalls if they want to. Right. Speaker 2: 02:22 Absolutely. There is hundreds of exhibitors. We also have an area called author alley, which is always a big hit and that's a full tent full of local authors selling their own books. And it was such a hit last year and the year before that we've expanded it. And we have two, uh, one located on the Luci court side and one located over on the south promenade. Speaker 1: 02:42 Now KPBS will be announcing its one book selection at the book festival. Can you remind listeners about the one book program? Speaker 2: 02:51 Yeah, the one book I'm program has been going on for 13 years. It's a great way to, you know, nominate a local authors and books and get them recognized in the community. And for the last two years, uh, we have announced the winner at the launch of the event in the morning and, uh, they actually do a big reveal. They have oversized books there and cover them up and then do, you know, take them off and reveal them. And afterwards the books are placed outside in the festival grounds and people could take selfie pictures with the book. Speaker 1: 03:26 In addition to the famous authors, this in addition to the all the activities that you're having, you're going to have topic based panels with multiple guests. Can you give us an idea of some of the topics that you're going to cover? Speaker 2: 03:40 Sure. Um, we have, um, for all of the pet lovers in San Diego, um, you know, you walk around San Diego and everybody's got a dog these days or sometimes too, like I do. Um, but one is for the called the, for the love of pets. Um, there's a panel, oh, about travel. Uh, there's a panel about memoirs, a couple of, uh, people that wrote memoirs. There's middle grade and young fiction panels. Um, just to name a few. Speaker 1: 04:08 What do you have planned for kids? Speaker 2: 04:10 Oh, tons of stuff. We have a whole children's reading area. Um, the reading stage is, um, actually being moderated or emceed by Dr Zoo. Little from the San Diego Zoo. Um, and he's really fun character and he'll be there, uh, introducing all the authors that'll be reading on stage. And then the zoo's also gonna be bringing creditors on the stage, um, so that the children could see them and, and possibly pet a couple of them. And then we have a children's pavilion area, um, in there. There's definitely, um, lots of, uh, activities for them. Like bookmaking. Um, there'll be doing some science projects, so a lot of activities both in the children's pavilion and the children's reading stage, which are both located on the south promenade right next to each other. Speaker 1: 04:57 What does it cost to attend the festival of books? Speaker 2: 05:00 The festival books is free. Um, but if you'd like to attend a panel session, they're $3 each, um, with a dollar being donated to the San Diego Council on literacy. Um, which is a great thing for us to support. We've done that the last two years as well. Speaker 1: 05:15 And can people go online and look for tickets in advance to those events? Speaker 2: 05:20 Absolutely. You could go online and get tickets@sdfestivalofbooks.com but you better hurry up cause some of those smaller panels are selling out and tickets will be available on site for those panels that still have tickets. Um, and they, you can find them at the information booth on both sides of the, the footprint. Speaker 1: 05:39 Any tips for people who plan on going love places to park, best time to arrive, that kind of thing. Speaker 2: 05:45 The great thing about liberty station and it deserves a lot of great free parking around. Uh, we do have three lots that are dedicated to us and they should be labeled with signage. But I would recommend, it seems like the past two, it's been one of the hottest days I'm in. You're out in the sun all day so it makes sure you bring your hats, your sunscreen and drink lots of water and just have a lot of fun. Good advice. The San Diego ut festival of books begins at 10:00 AM tomorrow at Liberty Station, and I've been speaking with Britain. Yvette ski with the San Diego Union Tribune. Bert, thank you, and good luck tomorrow. Thank you.
