TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — After a long layoff forced by COVID the Tucson Festival of Booksis back, celebrating the way books bring the world to you and the way the festival brings a sample of Tucson to the world.
The Festival of Books fills the UA mall with everything a book lover might want. One booth sells books to raise money for “Tell Me a Good Story” an organization dedicated to face to face communication.
“So COVID, basically killed us.”
Tell Me A Good Story sells antique books including one almost 230 years old.
Executive Director Hawkeye Richardson says: “This is called ‘The Annual History and Politics of The Year 1770’. So it’s talking about 1770. This book was printed in 1794.”
Books may warm the heart and build the brain so here’s that idea on a grand scale. The festival is dedicated to reading and writing literacy—and science literacy. Tucson Medical Center set up giant replicas of a heart and a brain—so large you can walk through them.
Maya Luria of TMC says, “It's usually very eye opening. Kids love to see this. It’s very interactive, and it gives them a better idea about how our bodies function.”
And those bodies are going to need some fuel to keep up all that book browsing.
Renee’s Organic Oven will be part of an extensive food court offering some of the unique taste of Tucson. Renee was sad when COVID kept her from serving food at the festivals. Now she’s happy to be back and says books and food go together.
“Who doesn't love food? You can't be a smart intelligent person writing books or reading them and not getting some romance from food. It plays an important role in everybody's life all the time,” Renee said.
Loving books does not exclude watching TV so we’ll put in a shameless plug for the fact KGUN9 has a booth near the intersection of the mall and Cherry Street. Come out and meet our on camera staff and the people behind the cameras who help it all happen.
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