Farmingdale Library Teens: 12 HIGHLY ANTICIPATED BOOK FESTIVALS AND CONVENTIONS IN 2022

Farmingdale NY

26 November, 2021

5:30 PM

Description

Press release from Farmingdale Library Teens: November 26, 2021 Due to the pandemic and various calls for more accessibility, more festivals are now offering virtual options. Some festivals either cancelled or went fully virtual in 2020 and 2021, and going into 2022, many will continue to offer virtual options or year-around virtual events. For a parent like myself, this is great news, and I am excited to add a few festivals and conferences to my wishlist. If you're planning to attend one or many book festivals in 2022, below is a list for your consideration. Many of them have free newsletters, which I highly recommend signing up for to keep track of the latest news, especially early bird registrations. Add them to your itinerary, and be on the lookout for ticket sales or signups as they appear! By "big" I mean large in size, attendance, and notability. These are book festivals and conferences that many authors and book professionals attend and in which many readers dream of attending (me, for example). Most are named after the city in which they're held. If the below festivals are not near where you live, I recommend checking this list on Book Reporter. Usually, there's a book festival in almost every major city in the United States, so this is by no means an exhaustive list. In 2022, SBF plans to return as an in-person festival while still offering virtual events. The 2022 headliner is David Baldacci with keynote speaker William Kent Krueger. This is one of my bucket list book festivals with its diversity and wide offerings of events and publishers. The umbrella in its logo is true to form, as it is held during a rainy, cool November. Bring your raincoats! The below book festivals have a specific message, genre, and/or mission in mind. Some are consistently held in the same location, while others move around year-to-year. The festival was created in 2009 to promote literacy. It is held in Hudson, New York, each year in partnership with the surrounding community and schools. Families are encouraged to attend, meet creators, and foster a love of children's books. Authors attending past festivals include Nikki Grimes, Padma Venkatraman, Joyce Wan, and many others. Arguably, any and all book festivals are useful to writers and book professionals, but the below events are catered more specifically toward them. ALA targets librarians and book professionals. AWP has often been considered the big writer's conference of year. However, smaller conferences are popping up and growing in popularity, one of which I've included below. Early bird registration has already opened for the 2022 event, with prices ranging from $100 virtual attendance to $310 for non-members purchasing tickets on site on the day of the conference. Keep in mind that many hotels surrounding the conference location book up quickly. If you are aiming to attend, start planning ASAP. The annual conference hosts more than 100 authors and speakers, with 900+ exhibitors. The ALA conference is for the thousands of leaders in library and information industry, and is usually only accessible to ALA members and exhibitors. I was able to attend in Chicago some years ago because the encyclopedia I worked for was exhibiting. For those living outside of Europe, this would include hefty travel costs, but if you able, it's definitely a bucket list book festival. Book Riot has written a few articles regarding book festivals, including preparing yourself for the overwhelming nature of these large events. Laura Marie's article What I Learned At My First Independent Book Festival is a great starting point for any first-time festival attendee. As mentioned a few times above, many big festivals are offering virtual options in addition to in-person events in 2022, as well as virtual accessibility for year-around events. The rise of digital-only book festivals is important to note. The subject is covered extremely well in Alice Nuttall's 2021 Book Riot article. Whatever your preferences, it is heartwarming to know that more and more book conferences/conventions/festivals are becoming accessible and available for those who seek them. There are independent book festivals and niche festivals in addition to the big ones. These are inspiring events where ideas, imagination, and culture intersect. Whatever your interests and goals, may you find the book festival you're looking for. This press release was produced by Farmingdale Library Teens. The views expressed here are the author's own.