Book Fest has a new 'vibe,' and we have the details
The city may take up more legislation in wake of 'no camping' law.
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Top: Cozy up at the Saratoga Book Fest’s latest event
Bottom: Camping vs. the First Amendment
Dish Saratoga
New Book Festival party taps into fall’s buzziest new aesthetic
Saratoga Book Festival launches a brand-new event that has all the feels of this viral new vibe.
By: Abby Tegnelia
This fall’s buzziest new aesthetic — call it a “core,” a “vibe,” or just plain cozy — is making its way to Saratoga.
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It’s called “bookish,” after romanticized rituals such as snuggling up in a chunky sweater to journal while sipping artisan coffee from a handmade clay mug. Think candles, yummy self-care, nostalgia, curated bookshelves, and following literary trends of all kinds online or at your favorite bookstore.
And the Saratoga Book Festival is channeling all of this into a new kind of party — which is a grade more festive than its name, Literary Night Market, suggests — this October 3 from 6 to 9 p.m. at UPH.
“To kick off the weekend festival, we’re doing something new,” says the festival’s co-chair, Jennifer Allen, executive director of Friends of Saratoga Springs Public Library. “We’re celebrating the joy of reading during a really fun evening — all while supporting our favorite local authors.”
The festival-within-a-festival will offer wine samples from Keuka Spring Vineyards, charcuterie samples (and boards) from Date & Olive Grazing Co., live music, a cash bar, photo ops, live podcast interviews, permanent jewelry, vendors selling “bookish” items such as journals and candles — and a marketplace of about 60 local authors eager to talk about their writing. New vendors (Allen’s on the lookout for a palm reader or tarot card reader) are still being added, too.
“Buy a charcuterie board, grab a drink, and sit down with your friends for a chat,” Allen says. “Then browse the local authors, dive into the bookish vibe, and go home with some great new reads.”
Providing the ambiance: the Mostly Modern Festival, which rocks Saratoga every June. Amanda Kengor, a Mostly Modern alum and Juilliard grad, will be on the harp, and J.J. Johnson and Gary Adler will play the viola and piano, respectively.
Discover Saratoga and its producers at Bright Sighted will be there, too, doing interviews for their popular Destination Saratoga podcast.
“It’s going to be really fun and vibrant,” Allen says. “Reading a book written by someone you connected with in a settling like this is a totally different experience than a one-click online. Come for the music, come for the food and drinks, come for the activities, bring your friends — and then meet local authors and buy their books.”
Keep reading about local fall activities!
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Camping vs. the First Amendment
City may look to update an old law in wake of "No camping" legislation
By: Stephen Thurston
Saratoga Springs is nothing if not a music city, and busking — street performing — is part of that music tradition: “The City Council of the City of Saratoga Springs finds that performances by various artists in public places enhance our City's environment and character. Such artistic efforts are both a valuable cultural experience and a forum for the expression of ideas in a free country,” the city’s code says in the introduction of the “street performance” chapter.
However, the new “No camping law” has exposed a problem in that sitting on most city property and using a chair to do so is not allowed under the new law. The busking law says nothing about chairs or other objects one might use in order to play an instrument, so the supposition could be that chairs are allowed.
“Sometimes they don’t mesh perfectly, and sometimes, when that happens, either discretion is necessary in their enforcement or you have to go back and maybe review the laws and make them consistent,” Assistant City Attorney Tony Izzo said of city laws in general. “I’m assuming
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