Literature and Arts Festivals - in your hometown

I flipped through my newspaper and saw a Literature and Arts Festival - across town from me in Columbia, South Carolina. I'd never heard of this one, so I read further. Amazingly I read how a school district's foundation hosts a two-day affair at a local high school and neighboring shopping center. The list of theatre, visual and literary artists amazed me. While I've seen fairs at elementary schools, this was the first two-day arts event I'd even seen at a high school, with artistic participants to attract almost any adult.

Whether you wanted to be a novelist, poet, scriptwriter, journalist, or memoir writer, you had someone you could visit, shake their hand, and buy their book. I'm talking local celebrities, NYT Bestselling authors, CEOs, performers. This event is not for children, but for older kids and their parents.

It's well organized. This is a collaborative effort supported by the community, celebrating South Carolina, education and the arts. I wanted you to see it, learn how you can collaborate with schools, bookstores, museums, even newspapers, malls, and businesses to host an event. Of course, schools are always attention getters, because who doesn't like to help kids?

A gathering of authors and artists captures much more attention. That's why book festivals attract thousands. Next time you are wondering how to let your community know you exist, solicit other authors, artists, writers or performers. Celebrate the arts AND your hometown. Who knows? You just might create a yearly tradition.