(Photo credit : Philippine Book Festival Facebook page)

There’s now more than one book fair to watch out for, bookworms!

The first Philippine Book Festival was held last year in two venues: Manila (June 2023) and Davao (August 2023).

Organized by the National Book Development Board (NBDB), it brought together purely local talents and publishers in a wonderful outpouring of homegrown skill.

Upon first visiting the PBF last year, this bookworm thought that perhaps it would be a lesser cousin of the more established Manila International Book Fair (MIBF) . But I was proven wrong, and never more delightfully so, when I beheld the stalls teeming with books, most of them at a more budget-friendly price point compared to their imported cousins.

Visually speaking, it was more impactful as well. The setup last year was more ideal for ambling amongst stalls and shelves. It was less congested than the MIBF’s, and the increased size allowed for greater creativity on the parts of the booth owners as they designed beautiful and inviting nooks and crannies for families to browse books in comfort.

If this year’s iteration of the Philippine Book Festival is any way similar to last year’s, then it is sure to be a most enjoyable (as well as educational) experience no Pinoy book lover should miss!

Mark your calendars, save your allowances! We’ll see you then!

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They also have a giveaway of free books! All you have to do is:

1. Follow them on both the NBDB and Philippine Book Festival Facebook pages
2. Watch out for their Monday book post (starting March 11, 2024), where they’ll hint at a title of a book.
3. First person to guess correctly wins the copy! Only one guess allowed, so make it count!