Page-turning Festivals
Posted Monday, May 05, 2008, 12:18 AM by Lonely Planet
Last weekend I made the trek to the goldfields of Victoria (in the southeast corner of Australia) to visit the post-gold rush burg of Clunes, which declared itself a 'booktown' in 2007. Bibliophiles flocked to the town to fossick through the mix of secondhand and new bookstores set up for the weekend-long event.
Some booktowns open year-round, like the grand-daddy of them all, Hay-on-Wye, which made headlines in 1977 when bookseller Richard Booth declared the Welsh town an independent kingdom and himself King Richard. Naturally he made his horse prime minister. Today Hay-on-Wye hosts an influential book festival and a simultaneous event for kids called Hay Fever.
There's booktowns around the world, including in Italy and Finland, but my favourite is Scotland's oddly named Wig town. It sounds more like a centre for fake hairdressing.
What kind of town would you like to go to? Beertown? Coffeetown? Funky Town?
- George Dunford
Labels: books, Festivals and events
Join the Discussion:
1 Comments:
I thought it was Wigtown in Scotland.
I'd like to see Coventown that's a host for wikka.
Post a Comment
« Read more on the blog homepage