Literary festivals – I love them.

I think I’m becoming a literary festival junkie.

I live in Ubud, so of course I’ve been attending the Ubud Readers and Writers’ Festival since it started in 2004. It’s a great event and I’m never disappointed. Depending on commitments I attend some of the main events, a couple of literary lunches, a workshop or two and of course some book launches and other free events. The minute the tickets went on sale for this year’s festival, I went on line and purchased my 4 day pass. I’ll be there listening and learning, laughing and crying and of course soaking up inspiration.

It was in the 2010 program for the URWF that I read about the Galle Literary Festival held annually in Sri Lanka. The following January I attended and discovered another great festival and an amazing country. Again I attended in 2012, but after this the festival stopped for a few years. This year, 2016, the festival resumed and I anticipate attending again in a year or two.

Last year I read a report on the Kampot Writers and Readers Festival in Cambodia. It sounded interesting and I subscribed to receive updates. In August, 2016,  the first notification arrived and immediately I registered, bought air fares and booked accommodation. From the 1st to the 14th November I will spend two weeks exploring Cambodia and attending the Kampot festival. Yes, it appears that I am becoming a festival junkie.

But there’s more.

This morning I read an article titled, ‘Óbidos, Portugal Is a Book Lover’s Dream.’ It described the evolution of the walled village of Obidos into a mecca for bibliophiles. It not only has a dozen bookshops within it’s walls but each September it now hosts a literary festival.

Portugal was never on my wish list, but the written word has changed all that. I’ve started planning a Mediterranean trip for 2017. Maybe it will happen, and maybe not, but the planning is half the fun.

So I wonder, Am I becoming a literary festival groupie? And the answer is, YES!