My friends and I attended the Philippine Book Festival last April 28, 2024, Sunday. It was the last day and the only day that we are available. Our travel time going there was less than an hour. Thanks to the efficient Grab driver, and the highway which made our trip convenient. (Or maybe because it was Sunday.) We arrived around 9am, just in time for the events that we were looking forward.
At the Philippine Book Festival 2024, one of the highlights for me was supporting the works of Filipino authors. A remarkable memory for me was visiting the booth of a lolo distributing flyers for his wife’s book. We saw this lolo twice, and we couldn’t be more in awe, seeing a guy promoting his wife’s book. We saw his wife’s book and it was about history.
It was also delightful to interview and converse with some authors. We met Sir Ron Camino who wrote the popular poetry book, Mga Tala at Tula. We also crossed paths with Doc Ron Baticulon who we met last MIBF 2023. We also spotted the queue for Sir Ronaldo S. Vivo. I also saw Sir Edgar Samar, the author of the Janus Silang series and one of my mentors when I was writing my thesis. We also took some photos with Sir Joselito Delos Reyes at the UST Publishing booth.
Another enjoyable moment was encountering Sir Ricky Lee, who was incredibly down-to-earth and willing to take photos. His kindness is really admirable. He never stopped smiling during that time. I also saw my favorite booktoker and he’s so approachable.
We also noticed some authors launching their zines. Among them were four friends who decided to publish their zine, titled “Alagwa”. Their work was truly captivating and affordable at 200php. I also bought three more poetry books from one of the authors.
My book haul includes two comic books, and a self-help book from Summit Media, and 3 poetry books. The rest of our stay there was just eating lots of tasty Filipino food.
Overall, it was just a joyous experience! Looking forward to attend PBF next year.