Below are the responses I received to a request for information on the
National Book Festival, which will be held in Washington, DC on October
9th. The website for the Festival is: http://www.loc.gov/bookfest
Anne Mlod
Advisor, Jr. Friends of the Weedsport Library
Weedsport, NY 13166
amlod1@twcny.rr.com
Pay extra to stay near a metro line and use it: much nicer/easier than
the NYC metro. Plan to visit the State's pavilion, authors, other
areas as interested. Be sure to give time to see the National
monuments which are walkable (very, very, very long walks) from the
festival but well worth it. Which Smithsonian museum exhibits should
you try to see while in town and close to the festival? The Air and
Space museum is the most highly attended. The Natural History -
dinosaur exhibit may be a favorite for that age group. My personal
favorite is the museum of American History which has a great exhibit
on the Presidents, the American Flag restoration, Julia Child's
kitchen, etc.
********
The States are represented mostly by the State Libraries. The last two
years, they gave "children" a scavenger hunt to get stamps from many
different locations in the book festival. Many of the stamps came from
the state pavillion.
It's a marvelous experience if:-you wear solid, comfortable shoes
(lots of walking, and, depending on the weather, it can be a muddy
mess.)
-Plenty of hotels within walking distance and loads of inexpensive
(McDonald's variety)
in the vicinity.
-You carry as little as possible to the site.There are loads of
giveaways!
posters, cards, puzzles, etc.
-You plan your day before you leave.There's so much to do and see!
********
I attended the festival last year and enjoyed it very much. I recommend
the following:
- Use the online information to make a plan about what you want to see/
do, particularly with regard to the speakers and book signings.
- Queue up EARLY for the big name book signings. (EX: Pat Conroy's line
was set up two hours in advance last year.)
- Each state library last year set up a table and display in the large
tented areas. There was a map that visitors were given to mark that
they'd made all their rounds. Each table offered goodies - - from
coloring books, pencils, pens, and erasers to comic books and other fun
stuff.
- Consider lunch inside one of the Smithsonian Museums on the mall.
Each has a different offering, all probably cool for middle school kids.
- Plan to show up a bit early for good seats at any of the speaking
events, particularly the big ones. I found that arriving at the end of
a previous speaker's event provided a big advantage in nabbing a good
seat right away for the next event in the same tent. We managed front
row seating twice using this strategy.
********
I have not taken students to the Festival, but I've gone the past two
years and am going this year. Here are the tips I can offer:
1. Have a plan. There is so much going on, that it's best to look at
the
schedule as soon as you can, and decide which authors and activities are
most important. Warning: The lines for book signings tend to be long
and
chances are if you go to one author's signing, you'll miss another
author's speech.
2. The pavillions last year were set up along the Mall. The
Children's
and Children's and Teens pavillions are usually close together; there
will
be maps showing where everything is. In the past everything has been
very
open, and it's easy to move around. Seats for the more popular speakers
will fill up fast.
3. They usually have free water at the festival, and stands selling
food. I would suggest having students pack snacks/lunch in order to
avoid
standing in food lines.
4. Depending on where you are staying in DC (if you are), the best way
to
avoid traffic is to take the metro. There are a couple of different
metro
stops that let out right at the Mall. I wish I could remember which
ones,
but my sister-in-law is usually telling me where to get on and get off.
*******
I would definitely get there early! I think 9:00 is plenty early -
you'll
have time to figure out where everything is. My best anecdote: The
first
year I went, Eric Carle was the first speaker. My sister-in-law and I
got
there at 9:00 and took seats in the second row, next to several reserved
seats. We ended up sitting right behind Laura Bush and the visiting
Mrs.
Putin; my sister-in-law ended up on C-Span!
There are street venders for food, but your best bet might be to do a
bag lunch with your group, because often restaurants are too crowded for
groups. The best way to avoid traffic is to use the metro, staying on
the outskirts of the city. If you can get a hotel on the red-line if
you're staying overnight, that is the most direct route. If you are
taking the train down, the metro station "Smithsonian" is only a stop or
two on the red line from Union Station.
The pavillions are basically tents where each catagory has speakers
throughout the day.
(For instance, last year I saw Avi and Sharon Creech speak in the
Children's pavillion.) You can pretty much stay at that pavillion for a
few speakers, or walk around. The exhibits there are mainly book
pavillions, but since you are on the mall already, you might want to
plan a visit to one of the museums (American History, Natural History
and National Gallery of Art are all right on the mall, a very short
walking distance from the festival) because the day is often hot and/or
rainy. The book signings are typically in the afternoon, and there are
lines to meet one author at a time - all of the children's authors are
not at the same table. So long as you ask, each author seems alright
with having their picture taken. Getting to pavillions early and
sitting as a group will be essential for you to be able to see the
authors you're most interested in. Often the tents are packed for
popular author presentations. The tents get very crowded, and the lines
for signings are often long. The authors do stay at the festival after
their talk, but seem to vanish until their signing time slot. Be aware
that some things overlap, and you might want to check out the authors
you want to see most, and when their signings are before going, so that
you don't miss the ones most important to you.
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