Thursday, May 4, 2017

My Experience as a TBF Attendee

Hey guys! Katie C. here. Today,instead of reviewing a wonderful book by one of our lovely TBF authors, I’m going to talk about my experience actually attending the festival.

I first started going to TBF back in 2014. I attended with a group from my school. We would meet every Thursday after school to read and discuss books by authors that were attending that year. When the event finally arrived, we all met up at Nazareth in matching t-shirts and went in together to experience the event!.

TBF starts right off with a red carpet entrance where you can stand right outside and watch all your favorite authors walk into the festival. They all arrive on buses and other slightly bizarre vehicles with their own band playing right in front. It’s basically like a parade. After that small event is over, you’re allowed to walk in and hang around the gym for roughly an hour. During that time, you can by books and merchandise, as well as reserve a seat for the next huge event: truth or talent. From my past experience, I suggest that if you plan to buy anything (t-shirt, books, food, etc.) you do it during this time, since there’s only so much stuff and a lot of it is sold out by the end of the day.

Truth or talent is one of the funniest and best parts of the day. For another hour, you get to sit back as all the authors are introduced and watch them tell strange stories about themselves or show off one of their many (if weird) talents! This part of the day has always been a blast in my experience. Authors have clapped with one hand, sang part of your world (while another pretended to be seaweed during this), sweared in danish, and even written the first line of their next book!

After truth or talent, there are four sessions to go and see your favorite authors all across the campus. Some will be grouped together while others will be on their own. This is where you can go see your favorite authors and watch them speak and ask questions. During this time, lunch is also served and there are food trucks available as well. If you want to eat at a food truck, I suggest that you leave the session before a bit early since the lines get long fast!

After all the sessions are done, all the authors will be available for signing. While most of them will be in the gym area, a few will be scattered around the campus in different places. While authors won’t leave until everyone standing in line gets to see them, they will leave once their line ends. So tip of the trade: get in the shortest lines first and wait for the long lines to die down.

This year will be my fourth time attending TBF. in the past, I’ve met some great friends, meet authors that I knew and loved, and learned of one’s that I’d never heard of before, all while making great memories the entire time. And after taking a look at some of the amazing authors coming and reading their books in preperation, I know this year is going to be just as great, if not better, than the years I’ve attended in the past! See ya there!

Katie C.

No comments:

Post a Comment