For its 20th anniversary, the Las Vegas Book Festival returns to full strength. After a fully virtual event in 2020 due to COVID, this iteration will encompass the best of both worlds, with a main event at Fifth Street School and a variety of online offerings.
2021 guest speaker Fran Lebowitz
“We were proud of what we did last year,” says festival director Ally Haynes-Hamblen, director of the Las Vegas cultural bureau. “But I think we are all very excited to be returning to the energy of personal being again this year.”
Over its two decades, the book festival has gone through many changes, sometimes focusing on children’s offerings and sometimes focusing on the literary, says Haynes-Hamblen. The festival has found a balance by offering something for everyone: a children’s area with song, dance and children’s authors, a robust program program for adults and even YA offers.
2021 guest speaker Dr. Oriel María Siu
“Now that we’re 20 years old, I feel like it’s really taking off and establishing itself as a book festival that really rivals other book festivals around the country,” says Haynes-Hamblen.
Looking ahead to the next 20 years, Haynes-Hamblen hopes to expand the festival further to make it a tourist attraction in its own right. She envisions the personal panels, book sales, and dealer shows that last a full week.
At the moment the festival is making the most of what it has. The main event on October 23rd is packed with so many goodies that it might be difficult to decide which event to attend. With at least nine separate areas at the same time, it becomes a real buffet full of book fun.
In the auditorium of the Fifth Street School, the biggest names such as the author and commentator Fran Lebowitz (4 p.m.) and the children’s keynote address Dr. Oriel María Siu (9 a.m.) will be a guest. The Discovery Tent features music, spoken word, dance, and storytelling. The Poetry Pavilion will host the Spark! Youth poetry competition (1 p.m.) and much more.
In the Empowered Tent you will find the more focused literary panels such as “New Ways to Write About Vegas” (9:30 am), “Musings on the Mojave” (12:15 pm), “The Art of Contemporary Bookmaking” (3:15 pm) and a conversation about the art critic Dave Hickey (10.45 a.m.)
The Las Vegas Book Festival 2019
Another fun feature: the vineyard, which debuted two years ago. “That was very successful because the parents sit in a vineyard and have a clear view of the children’s area,” says Haynes-Hamblen. For younger participants, the organizers have added a “juice box bar” “so that parents and children have a moment to sit down and enjoy the book festival.”
Additional culinary flavors are food trucks and cooking demonstrations in the Engaged Tent. “We make sure that the cooks who write the recipes are also participants in the written word,” says Haynes-Hamblen. “Cookbooks are a huge segment of any bookstore.”
The visual arts have long played a major role at the book festival, and 2021 will be no exception. The graphic designer Geovany Uranda designed this year’s poster. Justin Favela’s art is on display at Mayor’s Gallery. And in the rest of the festival program, the “PS I Love You Postcard Project” by Nevada Humanities will be offering postcard kits at the main event and will host an exhibition discussion on Zoom on November 4th at 6pm
Justin Favela’s “fruit of our labor”
So how do you choose? Haynes-Hamblen suggests looking at the schedule (lasvegasbookfestival.com), blocking some priority sessions, and then allowing time for exploration and discovery. “Maybe you just linger with our salespeople, in the book sales or even in the vineyard,” says Haynes-Hamblen. “There should be plenty of opportunities to just hang out and enjoy the nice weather, as well as lots of really great browsing and window shopping.”
Las Vegas Book Festival Virtual events begin on October 18th; Main event October 23, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., free of charge. Historic Fifth Street School, 401 S. 4th Street, lasvegasbookfestival.com.
