{"id":204641,"date":"2026-03-24T23:29:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:29:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204641\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:29:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:29:10","slug":"cover-to-cover-book-fair-returns-to-water-street-tampa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/204641\/","title":{"rendered":"Cover To Cover Book Fair Returns To Water Street Tampa"},"content":{"rendered":"

TAMPA, FL \u2014 Now in its second year, Cover to Cover<\/a>, dubbed \u201ca book fair for grownups,\u201d returns to Water Street Tampa. <\/p>\n

Bibliophiles will take over the mixed-use waterfront district<\/a> on Wednesday, 5:30 to 9:30 p.m., to celebrate books and the written word. <\/p>\n

The event grew out of a one-off event hosted by the district as part of its Sunset Series. <\/p>\n

The popular event series featured rotating themes, from summer Solstice to dance and music, but it was the book fair that really grabbed people\u2019s attention, Lindsay English, senior events manager for Water Street Tampa, told Patch. \u201cWe knew we needed to make [Cover to Cover] its own thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

She believes that Cover to Cover\u2019s popularity stems from a societal change. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re excited to see how books are having such a great comeback. It\u2019s really cool and such a great cultural shift that people are looking to disconnect and get off their phones and use their imagination again,\u201d English said. <\/p>\n

Cover to Cover features a traditional book fair area with six local bookstores – including The Book Lounge, Steamy Lit and the Bookstore at Oxford Exchange – various literary vendors and 13 local authors. <\/p>\n

There are various book-themed experiences, as well. <\/p>\n

In Raybon Plaza, attendees can make their own custom bookmark, try out vintage typewriters and create mini zines. <\/p>\n

\u201c[Zines] are just the coolest thing ever. You can make whatever you want out of it,\u201d said English, who only recently learned about the artform. \u201cYou can fold a single piece of paper and with one cut make a mini book and you can do anything with it, write recipes or write about the records you\u2019re listening to, review albums. You can make anything for yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n

There will be live readings and conversations with area authors, including Ayana Lage, in Via Corazon. <\/p>\n

New this year are themed literary lounges at Water Street restaurants, including Predalina, Ash, and Boulon Brasserie and Bakery. <\/p>\n

A \u201cHeated Rivalry\u201d activation zone inspired by the book, an LGBTQ+ romance about the relationship between two hockey players, will take place at 3 Corners Pizza during the event. It will feature a DJ playing music from the Netflix series created from the book and a Tampa Bay Lightning pop-up. <\/p>\n

There will also be a \u201creverse library,\u201d English said. Attendees are encouraged to bring used books they want to pass on to others. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a giant version of the \u2018give a book, take a book\u2019 [concept,]\u201d she said. \u201cIf people want to, they can bring books to share and take one home.\u201d <\/p>\n

Books leftover after Cover to Cover will be donated to the Friends of the Library of Tampa-Hillsborough County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TAMPA, FL \u2014 Now in its second year, Cover to Cover, dubbed \u201ca book fair for grownups,\u201d returns…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204642,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[135,137,136],"class_list":["post-204641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tampa","tag-tampa","tag-tampa-headlines","tag-tampa-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204641\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204642"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}