Buxton International Festival

In Buxton right now there is the annual festival that celebrates everything awesome!! Opera.Music.Books - what a great way to spend the summer weather!! Waterstones runs the pop-up bookshop and supplies the book events with the relevant books for the author talks and signings... which means that some of us get to spend some time out in Buxton representing the store!

One of those lucky people was me!! I was so excited when I found out that I was going to be going to the festival and helping run the shop and some of the events - especially when I found out that one of the authors going was Adam Kay, author of This is Going to Hurt; Diaries of a Junior Doctor - a book I read only a few weeks ago... There will be fan-girling that day!

But anyway, I popped over there one day during set up, then went back after the festival had started. The weather had to be a bonus, it ensured that everyone was in high spirits, it was great for walking around Buxton in and shopping the stores and places involved in the festival, plus the bookshop is right next door to the pub - buy a book - go read it in the sun with a pint - sounds pretty perfect if you ask me!!

And if being next door to the pub wasn't good enough, on the other side is the stunning piece of architecture that is the Opera House! A beautiful building that never fails to make me smile when I walk past it... We have got to hear some of the rehearsals, see the costumes being sorted and peeked at some of the scenery back stage from the doors! What can I say, I'm nosy and they leave the door open.

During the down time between events and lunch hours etc, I have found myself drawn to the area around the bookshop, which has included the Opera House, and the local park. One lunch time, I went out to the park with one of the girls that I am working with for ice cream and to stretch our legs. We found the stream and sat to watch the ducks swimming around and the little waterfall splashing away in the sun. We even had an intriguing discussion about what the doorway under the bridge could have been for... a strange place for a doorway if ever I've seen one! I think the final decision was possibly for sacrificial virgins to prepare for their moment... what can I say - us book nerds are a little odd!

The ducks were hella cute though!

The bookshop looks well cool - a selection of books and related products were chosen to fill the shelves, as well as the books linked to each of the events and author signings happening...

Some beautiful children's books, a selection of fiction titles. A history section, popular science and of course, some themed books on the anniversaries of the Suffragette movements, Mary Shelley's Frankenstein and Byron!

This was me sneaking photos when there was no one in the shop yesterday when the weather was a little duller. I think the clouds put some people off as it was a lot less busy when the sun went in. It gave us some time to rearrange the shelves and get the event stock ready to go though - always things to do for a bookseller... and if the worst comes to the worst, then we can always squeeze in a little reading :)

While the events are on, one of us has to babysit the pile of books ready for the signing afterwards - what better way to promote books than by reading one?!

I can't think of a better excuse to read than that haha!!

Needless to say that I am absolutely loving it - I'm back home for a few days now, then back up there for the week to see the festival through till the end... I'm sure I will have more stories by then :)

And if you find yourself with a free day - why not come on over and check out the festival and the local shops (including a beautiful second-hand bookshop called Scrivener's) - remember to call by the bookshop and say Hi though!!

Till next time,
V x