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Have you ever visited a book fair ?


Needle

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I'm sad, I've just realised that I won't be having my yearly visit to the biggest book fair of Belgium and it made me curious, have you ever visited a book fair ? Does it happen in your country ? I know for sure that it happens in Belgium, in all the big cities anyways and in France too but I'm not sure about other countries :)

 

It's a great place to buy new books at discounted prices, I even get given books by some of the staff once in a while :) I admit it doesn't always happen but sometimes, they just spot you in the crowd and one of their staff (I think it's the manager) points you out to the cashier and he lets you choose between books specially printed for the occasion.

There are also tons on interesting talks about many different subjects and you can also meet authors and get your books signed. This year, they're having Richard Ford, I can't believe I'm missing out :wibbly: I may not have enjoyed his books but it would have been super interesting to watch him be on a panel. Two years ago, Amélie Nothomb was there and she answered questions and signed books. I was a dimwit and didn't know about it...I've had serious FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) since then  :D

 

So, to soothe my ache at being unable to go this year, tell me about the book fairs in your country :) Do you have any ? Are they big fairs ? Do you make a list of the books that you want to buy or do you buy as you go ?

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How nice you get your books signed and you get given free books! I've never had an author sign my books, nor have I even met any authors (to my knowledge). It would probably be too crowded for me anyway though, big book signings.

 

The only book fair in the Netherlands (where I live) that I know of, is Het Boekenfestijn. I go there once or twice a year (they visit different cities so I go to the ones closer to my home). I always love going there and finding books for cheaper prices (there are no authors there, it's just books on tables.). Though their prices have risen since a few years ago, and some books can still be a little bit pricey. But overall I'm pretty positive about Het Boekenfestijn, it's always nice to go there, and usually the books are cheaper than in the shops. Whether it's big or not.. well it is big to me, but I have nothing to compare it to. Het Boekenfestijn also visits some cities in Belgium, but I believe they only visit the more northern part of Belgium (Vlaanderen).

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How nice you get your books signed and you get given free books! I've never had an author sign my books, nor have I even met any authors (to my knowledge). It would probably be too crowded for me anyway though, big book signings.

 

The only book fair in the Netherlands (where I live) that I know of, is Het Boekenfestijn. I go there once or twice a year (they visit different cities so I go to the ones closer to my home). I always love going there and finding books for cheaper prices (there are no authors there, it's just books on tables.). Though their prices have risen since a few years ago, and some books can still be a little bit pricey. But overall I'm pretty positive about Het Boekenfestijn, it's always nice to go there, and usually the books are cheaper than in the shops. Whether it's big or not.. well it is big to me, but I have nothing to compare it to. Het Boekenfestijn also visits some cities in Belgium, but I believe they only visit the more northern part of Belgium (Vlaanderen).

 

Oh Yes ! I've heard about that fair too. My Dutch teacher once took us to a similar thing (or was it the same ? I'm not sure) in Antwerpen :) It was very nice because I love books but very sad, because my Dutch at the time was seriously lacking. I'd like to think it has gotten better but it's probably all illusions :giggle2: 

When does Het Boekenfestijn happen ? Our book fair generally starts at the beginning of the year and will happen at the end of February this year :)

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That's nice :). I don't know if it was the same thing or not, because Antwerpen has another book fair too (I forget its name).

 

When does Het Boekenfestijn happen ? Our book fair generally starts at the beginning of the year and will happen at the end of February this year :)

Well all sorts of dates throughout the year, except in July and August. It's normally in Utrecht somewhere in September, and in Eindhoven in October / November. It's always 4 days long, from Thursday until Sunday. Other cities have other dates, see here for a list of the upcoming dates this year.

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  • 6 months later...

Not so much a book fair, but I visited the Hay Festival last year which is a literary festival set in Hay-on-Wye. It's filled with talks from various authors, poets and philosophers. It has been described by Bill Clinton as "the woodstock of the mind."

 

I really wish I could go again - the entire atmosphere was fantastic. It's so nice to be amongst book lovers - you'll be standing in a queue and randomly start chatting to the person next to you about your favourite genres etc. Everywhere you look people are reading. To me it seems like such a rarity to see people sitting around in public with a book - the entire experience was a breath of fresh air.

 

Hay-on-Wye itself is known as the book town of Wales. It is packed full of little book shops, many of them with a vast array of novels. You could get spend ages just admiring the bookshelves. Below is a photo of Hay on Wye:

 

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If anyone gets a chance, I'd highly recommend visiting the town - it is a very beautiful, quaint little town that is a book lovers dream.

Edited by Angury
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We visited Hay in March. Only on a Sunday though. A nice small town but most shops weren't open when we visited. The 2 that were open - 1 was fine, 1 was awful - the worst bookshop I've ever visited. Terribly snotty staff and "we saw you coming" prices for the most average of things. Quite possibly the largest shop in the town too. A sense that most of their clientele are tourists who are there to buy books, so let's milk them a bit". It did rather put me off attending the festival. Lovely part of the world, though I have to say. We stayed in Ross on Wye which has a very good old bookshop.

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We visited Hay in March. Only on a Sunday though. A nice small town but most shops weren't open when we visited. The 2 that were open - 1 was fine, 1 was awful - the worst bookshop I've ever visited. Terribly snotty staff and "we saw you coming" prices for the most average of things. Quite possibly the largest shop in the town too. A sense that most of their clientele are tourists who are there to buy books, so let's milk them a bit". It did rather put me off attending the festival. Lovely part of the world, though I have to say. We stayed in Ross on Wye which has a very good old bookshop.

Oh dear, I'm sorry to hear you had such a bad experience. Please don't let it put you off - I think the festival is a wonderful experience if you're a book lover, and hopefully that was just a one-off experience.

 

I have been researching other literary festivals across the UK, and there are tons of them around. I see the Edinburgh International Book Festival cropping up again and again. I'm curious whether anyone has attended any other literary festivals, and how they found them.

Edited by Angury
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I read about the  Hay-on-Wye festival years ago, if we ever make it to your side, we'll definitely be there!  :)

 

There are lots around this country, we make it to the one in New Orleans (it benefits the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra)  every year, and have travelled to Washington, D.C. for the State Department fair a couple of times. 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I've always wanted to attend a book festival but I've never been able to find one near me, in Vancouver. I haven't been to any book signings either. There were a few that I was eyeing in Seattle but it was always at an inconvenient time. But I am not going to lose hope. One day I will make it to a bookish event and I will enjoy myself immensely. Until then I live vicariously through others.

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I'd like to go to a festival too, my local area has one but most of the events tend to take place during the day which means days off work which aren't always practical, or they're in the early evening, or just sell out really quickly!  There is a big book fair in London but I think it's only for those in the book trade.

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Kindles are banned from the kingdom of Hay. That made me giggle though whoever made that is butthurt, 

 

There is one book fair in my city, in Oct, every year where publishing houses bring their stuff at discount prices and I'm always in awe that so many publishers sell so much. I live in a small city and in a country where we are at the bottom of the list in EU as far as anything related to books is concerned yet for a few days I still have hope that reading is still a thing among people of any age. I have not met any of my fav. authors since most of them are dead and Haruki Murakami won't be coming near this part of the world any time soon, but some authors from my country do come every year and it's always a joy to talk to them even if I am not a fan of their particular works. 

 

We also have something called "Night of the Libraries" every year on Oct 1st and while it's not exactly a fair, it's as close as one gets to books and literary activities in this small town. I always wait like a baby for October to come for these two events. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

We visited Hay in March. Only on a Sunday though. A nice small town but most shops weren't open when we visited. The 2 that were open - 1 was fine, 1 was awful - the worst bookshop I've ever visited. Terribly snotty staff and "we saw you coming" prices for the most average of things. Quite possibly the largest shop in the town too. A sense that most of their clientele are tourists who are there to buy books, so let's milk them a bit". It did rather put me off attending the festival. Lovely part of the world, though I have to say. We stayed in Ross on Wye which has a very good old bookshop.

It is the largest bookshop in town, but the secondhand books in there are very reasonably priced. We were there on a Saturday, and all the bookshops seemed to have the same books in them, except the crime bookshop. I think just through volume of books there is every chance of finding a gem that you haven't found elsewhere. I got The Young Steamship Officer by J Lennox Kerr, which told me a lot about Merchant Seamanship before WW2. There was a whole world there that seems to have been lost to the container ships.

 

As for cheap bookfairs... no I don't go to them, and they are usually very poor. I would like to go to Hay when the book festivals are on. It made me laugh the above poster who said Richard Ford would have been a draw at a bookfair. Famous for writing, like Jonathan Frantzen, its just that no-one I've ever met actually enjoys their books. For me the finest book I've ever read is 'We the Drowned.' the writer isn't famous though, or indeed a writer in English. The translator did a bang up job on that one.

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It is the largest bookshop in town, but the secondhand books in there are very reasonably priced. We were there on a Saturday, and all the bookshops seemed to have the same books in them, except the crime bookshop. I think just through volume of books there is every chance of finding a gem that you haven't found elsewhere.

 

Agreed on the latter point - I did pick up a couple of 1960s Pan James Bond paperbacks I was after for £4 each, which was what I would expect to pay for them (then got a filthy look for asking for a paperbag to protect my purchases!). But so much of their stock was overpriced and the staff were the worst I have encountered anywhere; which ultimately is what would put me off spending time rooting around there for anything next time. I actually enjoyed rooting around the Old Cinema Bookshop more, even though I found nothing to buy there. Ultimately I found nothing in Hay that I haven't found elsewhere (and at better prices).

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  • 5 months later...

I go to a used book fair every year just because it's supposedly one of the biggest in the country and I already live here so it's easy to get to. I can usually only go on saturday though and the pickings get somewhat slim by then. You really need to show up on thursday or friday. Even if I only leave with a couple books it's still fun though. 

 

https://www.newberry.org/newberry-book-fair

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I go to a used book fair every year just because it's supposedly one of the biggest in the country and I already live here so it's easy to get to. I can usually only go on saturday though and the pickings get somewhat slim by then. You really need to show up on thursday or friday. Even if I only leave with a couple books it's still fun though. 

 

https://www.newberry.org/newberry-book-fair

 

Thanks. How do they compare to any secondhand bookshops you visit at any other time? More choice? Cheaper? More expensive? I only wonder as I have a few regular shops I visit but have never been to a book fair. Just wondering if its worth the trip (would be at least an hour's drive to one from here).

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To be honest I buy most of my books on amazon, whether used or new. I'm sure in depends on the area, and you're in an entirely different country than me, but in my experience used bookstores in Chicago are mostly novelty experiences. You go for the atmosphere and/or because you like the owner's tastes and want a small, curated selection to browse to help you pick your next read. And you pay a premium for it, sometimes as much as that book would cost new on amazon. Certainly not the cheapest place to buy used books.

 

The Newberry book fair is the only real exception to that. You'll pay, on average, I'd say $1.50 per book, because they are all donated and the proceeds are to help the library, so it's more like a thrift store in that sense. I walked out of there one time with something like 24 books for less than 40 dollars. HUGE selection, like multiple enormous rooms. Especially if you're looking for any non-fiction, thrillers, or dramas. I'm mostly a fantasy and scifi geek and their selection there is rather lacking, but I've found some decent stuff. I would recommend finding the biggest book fair you can that's selling freely donated books for some sort of charity or non-profit goal, as they'll be the cheapest and most worthwhile. 

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Interesting, David, thanks. Maybe it does depend on area but we have a number of used bookstores here which can be quite cheap - some more than others of course, and some only deal in antiquarian or valuable things but there are a few not far from me (within an hour's drive) where good quality books can be had for much less than the price of a new one. And we also have charity bookshops which are often cheaper still, if not containing perhaps the same large range of stock. Fairs here seem to be collections of dealers coming together  - not aware they run any for charity here (perhaps as we have the charity bookshops). Hence my question as to whether anyone had been (and it looks like no-one has, here).

 

Fortunately we have a site here (inprint.co.uk) which lists used bookshops, whether privately run or by charities and visitors can review them. Through that I have the location of them on my google map on my phone, so whenever I'm away anywhere I can see if one is nearby. But of course, like you, I also buy via Amazon (or Abebooks is another). The important thing is remembering to shop around and get the best price. As you say, often charity events (shops in our case here) are often the cheapest.

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