The much-travelled Booktown Road

By Denver Grenell, Featherston Booktown

Ngā mihi o te tau hou – Happy New Year! We hope everyone had a restful summer break and read some good books in the downtime.

It’s all systems go at Featherston Booktown with both the International Organisation of Booktowns visiting for The Global Conference (14-18 March), the Young Readers Programme (8-10 May) and the Featherston Booktown Karukatea Festival (10-12 May).

The International Organisation of Book Towns was started in 1961 in the West England town of Hay–on–Wye. The concept involves small rural towns or villages in which second–hand and antiquarian bookshops are concentrated. 

A Booktown offers an exemplary model of sustainable rural development and tourism as we have seen during the previous Karukatea Festivals, with people coming from far and wide to attend and enjoy the local hospitality and shops during their visit _ including our seven bookstores.

The March event will see delegates from Booktowns around the globe in Featherston for a slice of good old Kiwi hospitality and we will be showcasing our beautiful region to them. We hope you will help welcome our international guests in mid-March, which is also when we launch the Karukatea Festival programme. Tickets go on sale to our Friends, supporters and the local community at 9:00 p.m. on 15 March. Tickets for the general public will then go on sale on Monday 18 March.

If you would like to become a Friend of Featherston Booktown and support our book voucher scheme – where we give book vouchers to every South Wairarapa primary school student – please sign up:  https://www.booktown.. 

We would value your support!

Speaking of which, the line-up for the Karukatea Festival is shaping up very nicely, including the Reader’s Choice event, where we asked you to tell us who you’d like to see at the Festival. We can’t tell you who is coming just yet, all will be revealed on March 15.

Did you take advantage of the Booklover’s Trail – Te Ara Kai Pukapuka audio app over the summer break? The free app gives you a guided tour throughout the Wairarapa through our many fabulous bookshops, 13 to be exact. 

Hear the stories of the booksellers as you travel the region, taking in the literary sites of interest along the way. The app is available now in the Apple & Google Play stores. Look for the Booklover’s Trail – Te Ara Kai Pukapuka and happy trails!