Thousands of Mississippians gathered in downtown Jackson this weekend for the state’s literary lawn party.
Officials with the Mississippi Book Festival report that more than 9,135 people attended the event on Saturday. The 12th annual Mississippi Book Festival saw a 15% increase of attendance from last year. The festival takes place each year at the state capitol, Galloway Methodist Church, and First Baptist Jackson.
Festival-goers heard from a packed author lineup including Saturday Night Live star and two-time Primetime Emmy Award winner Kate McKinnon, Mississippi’s former Poet Laureate Beth Ann Fennelly, Booker Prize winner and MacArthur Fellow George Saunders, Clarksdale-born rapper and entrepreneur Rick Ross, New York Times bestselling memoirist Belle Burden, and others.
Over the course of all festival events — including kids’ programming in the Delta and Jackson, officials noted that the festival reached 27,148 people, an increase from last year’s total reach.
“More than 265 authors participated in Saturday’s festival, including 46 official panels and workshops and greeting book lovers in Author’s Alley,” Mississippi BookFestival Executive Director Ellen Daniels said. “We are always delighted and encouraged at the way locals, visitors, and book lovers from all over come out to enjoy our festival.”
In addition to a star-studded slate of authors, the book festival featured live music, food trucks, children’s activities, book signings, and more.
On Sept. 25, McKinnon spoke to 1,540 students at an in-person presentation at Thalia Mara Hall and to over 13,724 students through a live-streamed event as part of the festival‘s KidNote program. The program was streamed to 378 classrooms in 88 schools throughout 31 Mississippi counties.
At the conclusion of the in-person session, each student was given their own complimentary copy of her book, “The Jungle of Carabanana from the Millicent Quibb School of Etiquette for Young Ladies of Mad Science” series, and schools that participated virtually across the state received books to be used in their school library.
On Aug. 26, children’s author Matt Phelan spoke to nearly 2,000 children at the Bologna Performing Arts Center in Cleveland, Mississippi, at the Mississippi BookFestival‘s third annual Delta KidNote. Phelan presented his books Bartleby and Leave It to Plum!, sharing stories and engaging with students throughout the event. Each student received a copy of one of Phelan’s books to take home.
“Through our KidNote events, we celebrate the childlike wonder reading offers,” Daniels added. “It’s our mission to inspire a love of reading in young readers across our state. This shared passion of our funders, authors, educators, and organizers made each of these events possible. We are always delighted to see how the festival continues to grow and attract more authors and book lovers year after year.”