John Green signing books at Waupaca Book Festival 2010.
The seeds of the Waupaca BookFest were sown by the Waupaca Area Public Library’s Student Library Advisory Group (SLAG) in 2009. SLAG is comprised of teen readers who organize events and raise money for the library. They decided to ask John Green, author of The Fault in Our Stars, to come to Waupaca.
When SLAG got word that Green was seriously considering their invitation, we decided to build on his visit and invite a few other authors as well. The author list grew from one to twelve, and the first Waupaca BookFest was born. It was held October 1 and 2, 2010.
Children’s author Amy Krouse Rosenthal and young adult author Patrick Jones visited schools on the Friday before the main event. John Green spoke to hundreds of delighted fans that day, then had pizza with the SLAG teens. Friday culminated with a dessert reception where authors and readers chatted.
The next day, all dozen authors gave readings and presentations throughout downtown Waupaca. We held a book swap (bring a book, take a book) and had a mini craft fair.
The classroom visits (for Waupaca students and teachers only) have become a staple at Waupaca BookFests, as have the Saturday presentations. In 2012, we held a town-wide Great Baseball Hunt in honor of presenting author Matt Tavares, with signed books as prizes for the kids who found the most baseballs. Our Edible Books Contest brought in creative and tasty interpretations of favorite books. All three sessions of our writers’ workshop were very well attended. We turned our library into a lounge and held the authors’ reception there. Cookbook author Brett Laidlaw prepared pork with blackberry-[whiskey] sauce, and Darien Gee judged a baking contest based on her novel Friendship Bread. Authors Pat Schmatz, Marissa Meyer, Jacqueline West and Geoff Herbach held a panel together and interviewed each other.
Marissa Meyer, Jacqueline West, Pat Schmatz, and Geoff Herbach, Waupaca Book Festival 2012
We decided to move the BookFest to the spring. The main event will be held on Saturday, April 18, 2015, with events during the week prior, and of course the authors’ reception on Friday night. If you’re in town over July 4th, 2014, look for us in the parade.