Loudoun County Public Library will host its ninth annual Eat Local Read Local event on October 18, with a lineup of local authors, family activities, and food.
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. It’s in the parking lot of the Cascades Library at 21030 Whitfield Pl., Potomac Falls. The family-friendly event is free for all ages, no library card required.
Over 70 local authors will sell and sign their fiction, non-fiction, and children’s books under tents at this outdoor event. Local food trucks like Island Flavourites and SmoQed will be cooking up Caribbean fusion and barbecue. For those with a sweet tooth, The Cupcake Mafia will have baked goods and coffee.
Along with book signings and food trucks, the event includes live music from local band Felix Pickles. There will also be children’s activities like face painting and balloon artists. Enlarged pages of Fairfax-based author Gabriella Aldeman’s children’s book A Squawk of Spanish will be printed and placed throughout a nearby path for families to stroll and read through on a StoryWalk, an interactive book-reading activity that promotes literacy and physical activity.
All vendors for the event are based in Northern Virginia because organizers wanted to celebrate the local community. The authors are also local to the DMV region, with a few from neighboring West Virginia counties.
Many authors return year after year, with standouts like Suzi Weinert, whose Garage Sale Mysteries inspired a made-for-TV movie series by Hallmark. Another notable author is Kolleen Kidd, whose memoir, A Rose for Sergei, follows her journey falling in love with a Soviet defector who she says later died under suspicious circumstances.
Children’s authors like Aldeman, Vee James, Philip Martin, and Valerie Fliss will feature their work across the festival.
The annual event originated in 2013 as the Local Author Fair, which focused on promoting local authors and their books. It transitioned into the current Eat Local Read Local format in 2016.
See a full list of participating authors here.
Feature image courtesy Loudoun County Public Library
