The Sacramento Book Festival is coming back this spring for its third year, featuring more than 270 authors and a book drive for homeless youth and adults in the region.
The festival brings together local bookstores, food trucks and even a family-friendly kids zone as a celebration of book lovers and authors. But a key component of the event is giving back to the community.
What is the festival’s charitable work?
The Sacramento Book Festival is continuing its partnership with the Mustard Seed School and its Loaves and Fishes program, which provides students with school supplies and lunches.
J. Scott Coatsworth, an organizer with the Sacramento Book Festival, said they worked with Loaves and Fishes last year to help the Mustard Seed School obtain children’s books.
“We really liked what the organization was doing, and said, ‘if we have you there, what can we do for you?’” Coatsworth said. “So we went back again this year and said, ‘we’d love to have you guys there again.’”
The Mustard Seed School is asking for activity books and workbooks, Coatsworth said. The book drive will be held during the event.
Alongside the festival’s charitable contributions, the event will have a variety of panels scheduled throughout the day in Harrison-Shepard Hall. Attendees can dive into street reads at the event, with 5-minute stories written by Sacramento writers.
What is the Sacramento Book festival?
The Sacramento Book Festival hopes to be “bigger and better than ever,” said Tim Schooley, a co-organizer of the festival.
After the first festival in collaboration with the McKinley Park Farmers market, Schooley saw how in-demand a book festival was for the area, he said. Despite limited promotion, the festival was swamped with book lovers.
“There were thousands of people who showed up, overwhelmed us,” Schooley said. “So this year, we’re going bigger … with plenty of room, all indoor, so the weather won’t be a problem like last year. This one should be really fun.”
The Sacramento Book Festival began as an effort to promote literacy throughout the region, Schooley said. Created by the Sacramento chapter of the California Writers Club, the festival has now grown “organically.”
“We realized that it had been a long time since Sacramento had a real book festival,” Schooley said. “We wanted to give it a try.”
This year, the festival will feature authors like Kim Stanley Robinson, Wendelin Van Draanen, Beth Ruyak, Christine Villa, Allison Brennan, Faye Snowden, Ambika Vohra, Kakwasi Somadhi and James Rollins.
“Readers are always looking for new authors, new ideas. Being able to meet with a writer and author, in person, can be really important,” Schooley said.
The festival will also have food trucks, coffee vendors and a children’s zone. Attendees can also participate in a passport stamp hunt to win prizes like season passes to Capital Stage and B Street Theater, tickets to the Sacramento Ballet and a free meal at Zocalo.
The festival is free to attend, according to the event’s website. The festival will be held from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday, April 19, at the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in River Park.
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Emma Hall covers Sacramento County for The Sacramento Bee. Hall graduated from Sacramento State and Diablo Valley College. She is Blackfeet and Cherokee.