My Perfect Day at the National Book Festival

With the National Book Festival tomorrow, I could not be more excited! In past years I had to squeeze all of the fun into 1 day. That’s no longer the case since the festival has been expanded into a 2-day event on September 24th and 25th on the National Mall.

This year I’m going to begin my festival experience on Saturday morning at the Book Sales Pavilion. I’ve got my eye on David McCullough’s “The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris” and Terry McMillan’s “Getting to Happy”. By purchasing them first thing in the morning I’ll have the books with me as I stand in the book signing line on Sunday afternoon.

I'll make sure to get my NBF Program and get my free C-SPAN Book Festival Bag from one of the Program Distribution tents. That way, I will have something to carry my books in this weekend and can use it for grocery shopping all year!

I am planning on meeting a friend and her daughter at the Target Family Storytime Stage to hear the National Librarian, Dr. James H. Billington read a children's book to the crowd at 11:20am. The JLW will be manning the "red carpet" at the Storytime Stage which will feature children's authors and performers reading aloud from their favorite children's books all weekend.

Next stop will be to the Let’s Read America Pavilion. There are going to be all sorts of reading-related activities for families and children and I can’t wait to see what they have planned.

My favorite is the National Gallery of Art, but all of them are free and the ideal place to take a quick break. And sometimes there are food trucks parked in front of them, which is perfect for snack time!

After I’ve recharged I will be sure to make my way to the Pavilion on States, which is extremely important because it is a Saturday Only event. This is a fun exhibit because I can check all sorts of interesting facts about my home state, which is Tennessee, as well as Virginia, where I live now.

Before I head home, I’m planning to pop into the Library of Congress Pavilion. This year their theme is Past, Present, & Future, and they plan to have tools and resources available to help people research and preserve their family history. That’s something I’ve always wanted to look into so it’s the perfect opportunity.

By Saturday afternoon I’ll probably be beyond exhausted from running all over the mall trying to take in as much of this awesome festival as possible. The good news…? I get to come back tomorrow for Day Two!

Click for enlarged map.