“Reading is magical” Book Festival in AXA, 1st Avenue

About This Project

The Christmas’ edition of the Book Festival took place in December of 2012 at the old AXA building, in Avenida dos Aliados. The motto being ‘Reading is Magical’, a co-production of Bairro dos Livros (BL) with the support of CMP/ Porto Lazer, within the 1^st Avenue project, books that could no longer be salvaged were used to line walls, build and decorate a big Christmas tree and create magic curtains. About 30 exhibitors participated, including bookkeepers, booksellers, small publishing houses, artisans, stationary stores, designers, readers clubs, poetic collectives and plastic artists.

The building was closed for almost 20 years and for 3 days it welcomed the event, which intends to promote reading habits and celebrate books. The Book Festival took over the right side of the 3^rd floor and the left side of the 4^th floor of the AXA building. There will be a space for concerts and conferences, theatrical performances, and an open mic to give voice to the city’s anonymous writers. It was added to the program the usual fair for booksellers, stationary stores and some artisans and designers.

It’s at the heart of the city that the largest network of bookshops and booksellers of Porto is concentrated and it’s those small spaces, which are alternative to big commercial areas and big editorial groups, that Bairro dos Livros aims to promote through this initiative. To BL, joined forces Aventuras Urbanas, Porto’s Planetarium Ovelha Negra, Paulo Soares, Thomas Bakk, Bruaá, Porto’s Cineclube, Fado Fa_la_do, Máscara Solta, among many others.