You are viewing 2011's Day of the Book website.
To view this year's festival, click here


Kensington Celebrates the International Day of the Book Festival
The Book as Literature * The Book as Art * The Book as Music

 
Sunday April 17th 2011, 11am-4pm
Howard Avenue, Old Town Kensington, Md
Celebrate the Book * Street Festival * Rain or Shine

See photos from 2011's
Day of the Book Festival!

See the photo album
Highlights

This afternoon street festival celebrates the International Day of the Book with live music, author readings, open mic, activities for children and adults, storytellers, ...and books, books, books! Local authors, bookartists, publishers, booksellers, and literary groups line Howard Ave in Historic Old Town Kensington to show, sell, and discuss their works. All activities are free, rain or shine. Come celebrate with us!

Cosponsored by the Town of Kensington and the Pauli Bellet Foundation Catalan Library.
Click here to see our other generous sponsors.
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support the
Festival


All donations are tax-deductible.
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Thanks to Kensington Patch for their continued support.

A collection of their articles can be seen here.

Meet Kensington's
First Poet Laureate!
Richard Rice


Welcome to the Kensington Day of the Book
       Community is all about unity and sharing
Our town is a mixture of different cultures,
       Interests and ways of thinking
Today, we join together; for celebration
       Bound together by a common thread
A celebration of literature, poetry,
       Spoken word and even the laughter of
Children watching and listening to fantasy;
       Music played by various instruments
Strolling our street or in front of the Book Shop
       Be it spoken, sung or shared
In many other forms; there is a joining of spirits
       One common goal and joy of communication
Come then; let us celebrate this day together!

Kensington's Poet Laureate is sponsored by Cafe 1894

Featuring THE NIGHTHAWKS
with special guest
GEORGE PELECANOS



Mr. Pelecanos will join the Nighthawks with readings from
his books


INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE BOOK
Welcome to Old Town Kensington's Celebration
of the International Day of the Book.


      April twenty-third (the festival is on the nearest Sunday) is a symbolic day in world literature. Declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995, this celebration of books and literature draws its inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose.
      Legend has it that Saint George, Patron Saint of Catalonia (Spain) and international knight-errant, slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful Catalan princess. From the dragon's blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess. Hence the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and love. In 1923, this lover's "festa" became even more poetic when it merged with "el dia del llibre", or The Day of the Book, to mark the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616.
      On this day in Barcelona, bookstalls and street festivities run the length of the picturesque La Rambla, the old city's main boulevard and, according to the Spanish author Garcia Lorca, "the only street in the world which I wish would never end".
       The Pauli Bellet Foundation Catalan Library, the Town of Kensington, and all our sponsors, invite you to celebrate this wonderful day on Howard Ave, our "La Rambla".

Links for further reading about The International Day of the Book:
World Book and Copyright Day at UNESCO


Also Featuring:



And over 100 local authors, bookartists, publishers,
literary and community organizations



Kensington Book Festival | 3786 Howard Ave, Kensington MD 20895 | 301-949-9416 | kensingtonbookfestival@gmail.com

Website created by
Debi Hammack