Reading remains the big focus of the Baltimore Book Festival. But in settling into its home at Inner Harbor, the festival is taking the long view that books are a vehicle to unlock the whole world — or, being a local festival, the world of Baltimore and Maryland. Page through a few new features this year:
The Paws and Pages Stage is exclusively devoted to our furry friends, with panel talks. And thanks to Maryland SPCA and the National Aquarium, live animals will be joining the festivities, as well.
Stoop Storytelling is presenting a Book Festival edition with seven local writers including Wyl Hilton, Rachel Anne Warren and Dan Fesperman. They’ll be talking about work that never made it into print or on the screen. It’s set for Sept. 24 at 5:30 p.m. in the Literary Salon.
Thomas Dolby, the inventive pop star and sound tech pioneer who is now a Hopkins professor, is set to give a book talk on his memoir, “The Speed of Sound.” It’s part of a Book Festival partnership with Baltimore Innovation Week, which is also running this weekend.
Story Share A new stage that’s devoted to telling tales. It’s a more free-flowing form of programming, with a Story-A-Thon on Sunday afternoon.
Sustainable Seafood Panel Being along the water, it’s worth thinking about the bay’s future. The National Aquarium gathered a group including Chef Spike Gjerde and oyster expert Patrick Hudson for a conversation moderated by photographer Jay Fleming. It’s set for Sept. 24 at 3:30 p.m. on the Food for Thought Stage.
Books are not really the focus since moving to inner harbor. More to please vendors which is understandable but disappointing. IMHO.
I agree. Haven’t been back to it since it moved and tried it the first year at the Inner Harbor. It is no longer special or literary without Mt. Vernon to surround it, especially if you took the tour of the area’s literary history.