Festival of Books

This weekend was the annual Festival of Books held at UCLA. I had been to the festival many years ago as a young child and all I could remember before yesterday was the Children's Corner on the north side of the festival. However, yesterday I attended the festival and I was amazed at how much I had forgotten. As I walked out of the eight dollar per car parking structure, I noticed the thousands of people walking up the main street celebrating millions and millions of the same thing: books. Dozens of people had a map in one hand and a bag filled with one or two magazines, books, or festival t-shirts. It was truly amazing to see how diverse people were at the festival. Children in strollers, young adults, old people walking slowly up the stairs to the library for a little cool air. I visited several different tents which were introducing new and old books of all kinds. As I walked up and down the aisles, solicitors handed out flyers for their particular booth and lemonade stands made my mouth water from the heat.
I found the Poetry Corner and listened to a poet for a short amount of time. His poems seemed to all revolve around death. Although his tone and outcome was solemn, his voice and his words flowed beautifully. He used words like "Tip top of branches twee twee twee." and "Dense scrub undergrowth." As I listened, he drew me in more and more.
All in all, the festival was a good experience. I would recommend this to all ages and families. The best part is that the festival is free and entertaining in the heart of UCLA.