BCinDC & the 2011 Convention

Wondering how to get to the main convention venue for the 2011 BookCrossing Convention? Check out our brand new page for an area map and directions: http://www.bcindc.zoiks.org/?page_id=668

Need more information? Let us know and we’ll provide it there.

This post is part 11 of our Wednesday Adventure Series. Each week we will highlight something different in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, many of which will be options for part of your own BookCrossing Journey. With so many things to see and do, how will you choose?

NOTICE: There’s a new special deal in place for just the month of January. Buy one convention shirt and be entered to win a convention sweatshirt!

Photo from the Kensington Book Festival

The Kensington Day of the Book Festival in Old Town Kensington, Maryland, is a street festival with live music, author readings & signings, storytellers, booksellers, publishers, and literary groups like BCinDC! It is organized each year by Eli, book-lover and owner of the Kensington Row Bookshop. This year, the festival will feature the Nighthawks Band with special guest mystery/crime writer George Pelecanos, who will read from his new book, The Cut.

The festival celebrates books by paying tribute to literature on an international level. The festival usually takes place on the Sunday closest to April 23, which is the International Day of the Book or World Book and Copyright Day. This was first celebrated in 1995 by UNESCO to promote reading, publishing, and copyright issues. This date holds literary significance in many different countries: the birth and death of William Shakespeare; the deaths of Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote), Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and Josep Pla; and the births of Maurice Druon, Vladimir Nabokov, Manuel Mejía Vallejo, and Halldór Laxness. April 23 is also Saint George’s Day, which is traditionally celebrated by men giving roses to their lovers, inspired by the rosebush that sprouted from the dragon Saint George slew. Women give books to their lovers in return.

Though there are often roses at the Kensington Day of the Book Festival, there are far more books. Some other common sights at the festival:

• Local authors reading from their works (visit the website for an ongoing listing of this year’s lineup; last year there were more than 60 authors)
• Author panels (discussing their works, genres, writing process, and more)
• Local artists and book illustrators
• Storytellers and characters in costume (we’ve met Sherlock Holmes and Long John Silver at previous festivals)
• Live music (so far this year includes The Nighthawks, J.P. McDermott & Western Bop, & Doris Justis)
• A chess master (if you win or draw against him, you get a prize)
• Festival foods as well as great shops on the historical avenue and nearby
• Booksellers and publishers (lots of info about upcoming books and the opportunity to buy as many books as you can carry)
• Open poetry mic (hear poets read their works or sign up for a 5 minute slot to share your own)
• Local community groups, charities, schools, and more

What else could you find at previous Kensington Day of the Book Festivals? BCinDC! We have had a table at the festival since 2006, where our local group has given away free books and introduced festival attendees to the fun hobby that is BookCrossing. One year, we gave away more than 1000 books! We’ve even had a few festival authors give us copies of their books to be registered and turned into bookrays.

Luckily, this year’s Kensington Day of the Book Festival takes place on the Sunday of our Convention. If you’d like to join this celebration of literature, sign up for this choice in the Add-ons form.

Regular registration for the 2011 BookCrossing Convention in Washington, D.C. is now open! If you didn’t register as an early bird, don’t worry; you still have until March 15 to register at the price of $175 (but after that, the price will rise again). There are still a few spots left before we hit 100 registered attendees, and these attendees get a limited edition Bally 10th Birthday label, so act now!

There’s also a brand new Special Deal available through January 31. If you want your own convention t-shirt to wear at the convention or to commemorate the 10th birthday convention, this is the time to buy it because you’ll be entered into a drawing for a free convention sweatshirt. Please note: everyone who has already purchased a shirt is automatically eligible for this promotion. Why should you buy a convention t-shirt? This comic should answer your question.

Blogger and author Laura Klotz has written a great piece about the upcoming BookCrossing Convention: http://good-idea-time.blogspot.com/2010/12/bc-in-dc-and-other-letters.html In her article, she discusses the practice of BookCrossing, the 2011 BookCrossing Convention in Washington, D.C., some of the things you can find on the BCinDC website, and a special project we’re working on in which she will be participating.

Have you written about the convention or know of an article that has been posted about it? Let us know and we’ll link to it!

This post is part 10 of our Wednesday Adventure Series. Each week we will highlight something different in the Washington, D.C., Metro Area, many of which will be options for part of your own BookCrossing Journey. With so many things to see and do, how will you choose?

REMINDER: The last day to purchase registration at the cheapest price is December 31 and the first special deal expires on that day as well. Register today to get the best deal available!

Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, was established during the Civil War and has a rich history as well as an important presence in the Washington, D.C. Metro area. The land was previously inhabited by Robert E. Lee and his family, inherited through his wife, Mary Anna Custis Lee (who, incidentally, was the great-granddaughter of Martha Washington, wife of the first President). Though President Abraham Lincoln offered Lee command of the Union army, Lee declined and, after Virginia seceded, became commander of the Confederate army. Since Arlington was so close to the Union border, Lee took his family further south to keep them safe.

When the government demanded payment of property taxes, Mrs. Lee sent an agent with the money. However, because she wasn’t there in person, the agent was refused, and the government acquired the estate. Shortly thereafter, Union soldiers moved in and established a fort. When the number of Civil War casualties grew faster than local cemeteries could accommodate, General Montgomery C. Meigs, who was stationed at the Lee mansion known as Arlington House, proposed a new cemetery be established there. His intention was to make the property uninhabitable should the Lees ever return. In 1863, Freedman’s Village was established, where freed slaves lived and farmed during and after the Civil War. However, they were turned out in 1890 when the government rededicated the land as a military installation.

Neither the general nor his wife ever returned to Arlington, but their son, George Washington Custis Lee, sued the United States for ownership. In 1882, the Supreme Court agreed with him, declaring the property had been sold without due process, and the estate was returned to him. However, only a year later, Custis Lee sold it back to the government at a signing ceremony with Secretary of War Robert Todd Lincoln, son of the late president.

Today, Arlington is the second largest national cemetery in the United States. More than 300,000 people are buried there, including veterans from every one of the nation’s wars. President John F. Kennedy is one of the many notable graves; his is marked by an eternal flame. Many famous military (such as General Meigs), historical (such as Pierre L’enfant, designer of the Washington city plan), and even literary figures (including first female war correspondent Mary Roberts Rinehart) are also buried there, though William Howard Taft is the only other president.

One of the most popular sites in Arlington Cemetery is the Tomb of the Unknowns, also known as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which house the remains of unidentified casualties from World Wars I and II and the Korean War. (The unknown from the Vietnam War was identified in 1984, and it has been decided that this crypt will remain vacant.) The tombs are guarded at all times by soldiers from the 3rd U.S. Infantry. Many visitors like to witness the ceremonial changing of the guard, which occurs on the hour and half-hour during the spring and summer months.

Arlington House still stands and operates as a museum and memorial. It is open to visitors every day from 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM. Admission to the museum and Arlington Cemetery is free. If you would like to visit Arlington Cemetery, we have planned it as one of our Sunday activity choices. Due to the nature of Arlington Cemetery, however, no books should be wild released there.