Baltimore City Council member Odette Ramos said she’s excited that the Baltimore Office of Promotion and the Arts (BOPA) honored her request to move the Baltimore Book Festival to Waverly, an area she represents.
Ramos said in an email message on Wednesday that she just received confirmation that BOPA plans to hold the next Baltimore Book Festival in Waverly, which boasts a concentration of independent book stores, after a four-year hiatus. She said planners are “looking at” the third weekend in May 2024, “but the dates are not yet confirmed.”
At least one commenter, a Baltimore bookstore manager, said on Instagram Wednesday that she wasn’t aware of plans for the 2024 book festival. “This is interesting because the involved businesses know nothing about it!” she said in response to a Baltimore Fishbowl article about the festival. “Might need a fact check.”
Ramos, who advocated for the idea of moving the book festival to Waverly, said in her email message that the event will be a collaboration involving BOPA and others.
“This will be a partnership with Waverly Main Street, Red Emma’s, BOPA and any other partners that want to join. My office will be involved,” she wrote.
Kate Khatib, a worker-owner at Red Emma’s Bookstore Coffeehouse in Waverly, said she learned about the proposed move from the Baltimore Fishbowl article and looks forward to learning more.
“Baltimore Book Festival was a tremendously important event for booksellers, authors and literary organizations across the city for decades,” she said in an email message. “It’s great to know there is interest in bringing it back in a new form.”
BOPA interim CEO Todd Yuhanick told his board on Wednesday that he wants to bring the Baltimore Book Festival back as one of the agency’s signature events in fiscal 2024.
“The Book Fest is coming back,” he said. “In the next week or two, we’ll begin formal conversations about how we can support and help bring Book Fest to life.”
A city tradition that started in Mount Vernon and later moved to the Inner Harbor, the Baltimore Book Festival was last held in 2019, when it was combined with the Light City festival. In 2020, former BOPA CEO Donna Drew Sawyer cancelled it along with Artscape, Light City and other public gatherings, citing concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
As the number of COVID cases decreased and other cities brought back large-scale civic events, Sawyer was slow to bring back festivals in Baltimore, even though the independent agency has a contract with the city and receives city funds to produce festivals.
When Sawyer still had no plans to bring back the Baltimore Book Festival in 2023, Ramos and Waverly Main Street executive director Diana Emerson worked with booksellers, the Peabody Heights Brewery, the Enoch Pratt Free Library and others in Waverly to put on their own event, called the Waverly Book Festival. BOPA had no involvement in that festival, which took place April 28 to 30.
Sawyer resigned in January, after Mayor Brandon Scott said he lost confidence in her ability to lead the agency. Her departure was triggered by her widely-criticized decision not to hold the Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade honoring the slain civil rights leader on his birthday. She received a settlement of $83,232 – half a year’s salary – to step down. Yuhanick became BOPA’s interim CEO on June 2 and has made it a priority to bring back the festivals that Sawyer put on hold.
Asked how a reconstituted Baltimore Book Festival will compare with the Waverly Book Festival that was held in April, Ramos said she can’t say for sure because plans are still coming together but she believes the festival will benefit from the new location and the planning that went into this year’s event.
“I think Waverly Main Street and Red Emma’s involvement with BOPA will enhance the traditional book festival,” she said in her email message. “The Waverly Book Festival was a huge success and growing it now to be the Baltimore Book Festival is a no-brainer. The Baltimore Book Festival will bring a lot of people to our area to highlight our book stores, our excellent Pratt library, our businesses and our diverse neighborhoods. I’m thrilled about this and looking forward to seeing everyone with many books, and showcasing our local authors at the Baltimore Book Festival in Waverly!”
I’m thrilled about the return of the Baltimore Book Festival in 2024, and excited about the location in Waverly!
I’d like to know how I can volunteer to help make this Festival happen! I live in Charles Village.
Shirley J. Brewer, Baltimore poet and author of 4 books of poetry.