Dumaguete City will host the inaugural 6200 BookFest from July 17 to 19 at Filinvest Mall, bringing together national publishers, independent booksellers, authors, and readers.
The three-day event is being positioned as the first regional book fair of its kind in the Negros Island Region and will also serve as a host event for the National Book Development Board’s Philippine Book Festival in the Regions.
Themed “Across the Shores,” the fair will feature a marketplace for publishers and booksellers, along with book launches, author talks, and workshops for readers, writers, and educators.
Historian and author Ambeth Ocampo will deliver the keynote address.
Ocampo is known for his writings on Philippine history and national hero José Rizal, including the book Rizal Without the Overcoat.
The National Book Development Board will mount a collective stand featuring publishers and authors from different parts of the country.
Participating exhibitors include Anvil Publishing, Vibal Group, Silliman University’s Sands and Coral, Everything’s Fine, Haring Ibon, 8Letters Publishing, and Dum Alt Press.
Independent bookshops LibrAria, Lost Books, and Utopia will also participate.
The NBDB collective stand will include ABC Educational Development Center Children’s Books, Aklat Alamid, Central Book Supply Inc., Johnny and Hansel Publications, Santo Niño de Cebu Publishing House, Dumaguete-based Kate D. Pirate Books, and Capiz writer Joanna Leah S. Villamor.
The festival is organized by the Arts and Design Collective Dumaguete and the Duma LitFest team in partnership with the Dumaguete City government and its Tourism Office, the National Book Development Board, and Futura Shores by Filinvest Land Inc.
Organizers said the event aims to strengthen Dumaguete’s role as a meeting point for writers, readers, publishers, and literary communities following its designation as the Philippines’ first UNESCO Creative City of Literature.*
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