First off, I will be talking quite a bit about UntitledTown in Green Bay the next couple of months.
I went to the UntitledTown Book And Author Festival for one day last year ( it’s FIRST year) and was so impressed with it, that I definitely wanted to attend this year and perhaps do my part by promoting it and bring people to an awesome area of Wisconsin. This years event will be held at various locations in Green Bay, Wisconsin April 19th-22th, 2018. For more info visit untitledtown.org.
This weekend event brought in about 5000 participants in 2017. That’s crazy cool for a first time event! This just goes to show what a need there was in this area to bring together writers and readers of all ages to meet, exchange ideas, and support each other. Which is why the whole concept was born. There is a whole quiet community of writers in Wisconsin. What better way to come together in support than to create an event just to do that. During the planning process, it was realized there was also a need to make UntitledTown an event for readers as well.
Creating an economic impact in Green Bay and with area youth.
The UntitledTown organizers believe the festival will have more positives aside from bringing writers and readers together. They are firm believers that a yearly event such as this can have a positive impact on the economy of the area. Not only bringing in dollars to local businesses during the event, but also to aid in the recruitment and retaining educated workers in the area. Most of us know that the Green Bay Packers have a positive impact on Green Bay and bring in big dollars annually, but there is so much more to Green Bay and the organizers want people to know there is a thriving arts scene available to locals and visitors alike.
The bottom line is to have a positive impact on the future of Green Bay and that means to feature even more events for youth from toddlers to teens. As a mom to a daughter who was never into sports and preferred to have her head in a book, I cannot tell you what an impact an event like this can have on a young persons life. It’s reassurance that it’s perfectly fine to spend your time reading and crafting stories. A whole world opened up to my daughter in high school through books.
Why I love book festivals
I love reading! I typically do not go anywhere without a book or a blank notebook to jot down ideas. I also love to write, which is why I started this blog in the first place. My daughter is like a reader on steroids! She’s in her second year of college and still reads a lot, but for most of her high school years she read a ton. In fact, I think she owns something like 200 books. I never realized what a huge genre YA was until we made the trip to Charleston, South Carolina for probably the granddaddy of all YA book festivals YALLFest. I will never forget that experience. I am talking thousands of YA fans carting around suitcases of books to be signed by their favorite authors. To these book fans, the authors are like rock stars! The author list was incredible. To see the enthusiasm of these young readers had such an impact on me, not only as a mom, but as a reader as well.
Megan found her voice with books so much so, that she has a whole group of friends from around the country as a result. She has a huge Instagram account, has attended the Chicago movie opening of Divergent, and met many YA authors including Veronica Roth, and her favorite author, Michelle Hodkin.
This is why I love book festivals! As a reader myself, it is a great way to support authors and to meet then! As a writer, being able to hear authors speak about the craft and learning through workshops, is a way to feel connected to your “people”
I cannot stress it enough-if you love reading and/or writing, you MUST go to an event like this.
UntitledTown preview night
As a way of not only promoting UntitledTown, but passing along information and meeting the people behind the event, the organizers scheduled 3 preview nights. The first was last Thursday at Hometown Southern Food in Green Bay, which I attended. They will have 2 more March 26th and April 5th. These nights are excellent opportunities to meet and mingle. They are looking for volunteers to help out. They have swag bags to raffle off. I was probably one of the only people in attendance (or so it seemed to me) that did not win one! I would definitely think about attending one if you are interested and want to learn more. I know, I know, we readers and writers can be a shy bunch and putting yourself out there can be a little intimidating! It will be okay though, trust me!
They also have authors reading at the preview parties! This night the reader was Melissa Westemeier. It’s a fun time. At this time the full scheduled has not been released for the event, but I can say that they are having some huge names coming. Roxanne Gay (Hunger), R.L. Stine (Goosebumps), Mary Roach (Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War), and Hillary Jordan (Mudbound), just to name a few. The full schedule of authors and workshops for all ages should be released the early part of March. Best part is, almost all the events with the exception of one is free. A new offer this year is to become a subscriber. As a subscriber you can gain first access to reserved seating and author signings.
Like I said in the beginning, I will be writing more about UntitledTown Book And Author Festival in the coming weeks. If you are in the area, come out and go to one of the preview nights!
Thanks for reading!
Please spread the love and share on your social media channels!
Lori
Go Explore! The world is waiting…
Questions? Comments? Share then with me!