Festival of Books

Country Fox spent some time at the Festival of Books Saturday morning. What is the Festival of Books you might be asking?

How it Started

It started in 2018 as the Allegheny Regional Festival of Books (ARFB). This grassroots organization wanted to promote local authors while creating a literary festival that was community based and promoted writing and reading. Through the hard work of volunteers an idea turned into a festival.

Each year the festival rotates between locations. This year Ebensburg, Cambria County hosted. Other years it has been Bedford County or Somerset County.

Festival of Books: Ebensburg 2021

The Southern Alleghenies Museum of Art in Loretto hosted the Keynote Author Reception on Friday night. There was a silent auction, whose proceeds went to support literacy in Cambria County. Hors d’oeuvres and beverages were served. This event required a ticket, which could be purchased on line.

Saturday’s events were located in Veteran’s Park and the Ebensburg Cambria Public Library. Admission was free. Veteran’s Park hosted the main tent area. Here visitors could find over forty local and regional authors.

Events began at 9:00A.M. This area was aimed more for teens and adults, though there were authors with children’s books here. While visitors meandered, musicians played. Throughout the day authors gave talks and there was even some live storytelling.

Children’s activities could be found at the Ebensburg Cambria Public Library. Activities included storytime with authors, live storytelling, graphical novel storytime and crafts. All of these were free of charge.

Interested in find out more? Visit their site here.

What else to do in Ebensburg?

Looking for more events in Ebensburg? Potato Fest is September 25th and Dickens of a Christmas is December 3-5, 2021. Want to find out what goes on at Dickens of a Christmas? Read my experience here.