Book Fest with new format
With a new and improved display area featuring circular stalls, the 36th Book Festival will be opening today at its usual spot on the Dionysiou Areopagitou pedestrian walkway in central Athens. The event is organized by the League of Athens Book Publishers and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and the City of Athens. This is the second fair held this year by the organizers, and is dedicated to Maria Callas, Nikos Engonopoulos, Nikos Kazantzakis and Dionysis Solomos. The area dedicated to these artists, however, has been limited to just one stall, where visitors can find posters and other material from the archives of the ERT state broadcasting company. Throughout the duration of the 36th Book Festival, the organizers have also prepared specific displays on Alzheimer’s disease, the urban environment and transport, as well as children’s literature, while they have also set up a special stall, in collaboration with the Greek Mensa society, where visitors can take an IQ test. There will, however, be very few events held on the sidelines of this year’s Book Festival, such as round-table discussions on literature and writers, with activities limited just to the stall areas. Nevertheless, from today through September 30, visitors to Dionysiou Areopagitou (from the entrance to the Herod Atticus Theater all the way to Thiseion) will find the most recent book releases at around 240 stalls, inviting the public for a stroll that may prove to be as beneficial as it is delightful.
