YALTIVAL - a very bookish day

Hey, all! 

I can finally take some time to tell you all about YALTIVAL - the first book festival of this name in the Netherlands! I did not know what to expect, but I'd love to take this opportunity to tell you all about it! 

After a long and busy weekend of travel, gatherings, star observing, Dungeons and Dragons, and trying dinners that have appeared to me in a dream, I finally hauled my suitcase and sleep-deprived self to Eindhoven, a lovely town in the Netherlands that I had never visited (although the train station was eerily familiar). I was able to meet up with some bookish friends that I had met at another book convention (Danielle, Lisa and Lisa) and together, we were off to YALITVAL YATILVAL YALTIVAL! 

We started the day going to a lovely industrial-style library called Boekhandel Van Piere, where we received very-full goodie bags! Naturally, the gifted book was in Dutch, which I plan to giveaway soon (!!), but it also contained socks which I believe to be the coolest book swag ever! They also provided free Coffeelovers coffee which I was very happy with. (Coffeelovers is essentially the Dutch equivalent to Starbucks, which I love. #notasponsor) 

And instead of YA books, I took our time at the bookstore to buy a book on programming with Python, and calculus. Yes I’m a nerd, deal with it...

We soon after made our way to the Dynamo event centre, where we were confronted with every book nerd's most tempting sight - stands displaying merchandise from Letters and Lights, and Till and Dill. 

For those of you who aren't aware, Till and Dill is a lovely duo who make art based on a monthly theme. Their work is absolutely astounding, and not specifically bookish - simply beautiful. I personally have a lot of their work on my wall, it gives such a lovely vibe! On the other hand, Letters and Lights is a brand that initially created art, but now sells candles, prints, bookmarks, teacups... their items are incredible! I got 3 candles (Merida, Dungeons and Dragons, and Jamie Fraser), an A Darker Shade of Magic themed book box, and a lovely little tea cup! 

Soon enough, it was time for the author interviews, including Emily Barr, Alice Broadway, and Stephanie Garber. All three authors were absolutely lovely and answered questions with so much enthusiasm! It was so much fun to see them just chat on stage! 

Next were the signings. We were all excited enough to be a little nervous, but in the end all three authors were super sweet! Stephanie was kind enough to sign an instagram post I had done with Caraval, which she had liked and shared in the past, and I had both Alice and Stephanie sign books! It was a great highlight! 

After a lunch break, we went to an illustration workshop, in which everyone made quote postcards based off the work of Zonenmaan illustraties, the art site of letters and lights! It was a lot of fun, and I didn't realise before how much I enjoyed drawing quote cards (despite the shaky tables!) 

The day ended with a lottery and a cosplay competition - there was some cosplay based on Caraval that was absolutely astounding, I can hardly believe that people can make such costumes! 

It was such a lovely day, I cannot wait for the next book expo in October! 

Stay bookish!