Southern Festival of Books, anyone?

Yeah, I plan on going.

I stumbled quite by accident on last year's. I went to Nashville to research the lay of the land for my WIP Paper Thin, which takes place in Nashville. I walked around the capitol and saw some sort of doings on the plaza next to it.

I think Gravity was there last year. I don't think I'll make it this year, but . . . who knows? I've been known to be impulsive sometimes.

Chris P said:

I stumbled quite by accident on last year's. I went to Nashville to research the lay of the land for my WIP Paper Thin, which takes place in Nashville. I walked around the capitol and saw some sort of doings on the plaza next to it.

I think Gravity was there last year. I don't think I'll make it this year, but . . . who knows? I've been known to be impulsive sometimes.

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Did you notice the Hermitage Hotel near the end of the Plaza? It has quite a history. Along others, Al Capone stayed there, and Minnesota Fats lived there in his later years.

I'm in Mississippi; how much more hell can you expect me to be in?

Don't set up a meet-n-greet on my account, but if one gets arranged that might tip the scales in favor of me coming. It is a five hour drive for me afterall, and I don't want to give a firm commitment just yet.

Perks said:

Quitcher bitchin. It's a five hour drive for me, too.

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Haha! I'm leaning towards going, as there really isn't much reason for me NOT to go. I'll give the website a good look over and get back to you.

It's a 20-minute drive for me. ;-)

alleycat said:

It's a 20-minute drive for me. ;-)

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Whoo hoo! Party at Alleycat's!

Uh, oh.

Haha! Just kidding of course. I will probably stay a bit out of town, after seeing the hotel rates on the website. It ends at 6 on Friday night, so if we do plan a meet up Saturday will be best for me.

You might check the Holiday Inn Express off Broadway. There are a couple of other hotels south of Broad that I've heard are nice and not too expensive. You can find some other, cheaper, hotels east of the river (near the Tennessee Titans football stadium).

Chris P said:

I stumbled quite by accident on last year's. I went to Nashville to research the lay of the land for my WIP Paper Thin, which takes place in Nashville. I walked around the capitol and saw some sort of doings on the plaza next to it.

I think Gravity was there last year. I don't think I'll make it this year, but . . . who knows? I've been known to be impulsive sometimes.

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Yep, I was there; won't make it this year, though.

All right, you guys. Hotel's booked.

I notice that the SFoB just posted this on Facebook:

We're one week away from the Festival! By the numbers: 257 authors and performers, 171 individual sessions, 145 signings, 48 exhibitor booths, seven food vendors, three peformance stages, and approximately 30,000 attendees!

If anyone is planning on attending, and needs some general information about Nashville, just let me know, either in this thread or by PM.

I can't believe it's one week away. Around here they plan outdoor events in April and May, and then again in September and October. There are too many things at the same time.

Well, this should be an interesting weekend . . . the Occupy Nashville people are still on the Plaza the last time I heard; my best friend wants me to go with her to the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday (there will be 20,000 walkers downtown), and I've volunteered to help the Festival on Friday.

With any luck I should be in a riot, a walk, and a book festival all in one weekend.

I'm being silly, of course, but the Breast Cancer Walk could mess up traffic in downtown Saturday morning. It start around 9:00 and goes to noon or so. They will be using many of the major streets in downtown Nashville.

alleycat said:

Well, this should be an interesting weekend . . . the Occupy Nashville people are still on the Plaza the last time I heard; my best friend wants me to go with her to the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk on Saturday (there will be 20,000 walkers downtown), and I've volunteer to help the Festival on Friday.

With any luck I should be in a riot, a walk, and a book festival all in one weekend.

I'm being silly, of course, but the Breast Cancer Walk could mess up traffic in downtown Saturday morning. It start around 9:00 and goes to noon or so. They will be using many of the major streets in downtown Nashville.

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Is it a Vanderbilt and/or Titans football weekend? I think the city would explode if all that happened at once.

I have to work until about 3 pm on Friday, so I'll get to my hotel late in the evening and show up for the Saturday festivities.

The Titans play on Monday for their next game, I believe (if not, they play on Sunday). There is a Vanderbilt (Georgia) game, but they have their own stadium near West End which won't affect downtown that much. Tennessee State plays at the Titans stadium but I don't know whether they have a home game Saturday or not.

Nashville handles some major events (such as the CMA Festival), so it should be okay. The only problem is the street closings on Saturday. If you have a hotel booked downtown, then you can just walk to the Festival.

I'm still not sure of my schedule. I'm being pushed in three or four directions this weekend.

Chris, do you want a map of where the Breast Cancer Walk is going to be? It's a nice little map of downtown Nashville if nothing else. I have your e-mail address.

ETA: I went ahead and send you the map by e-mail.

alleycat said:

Chris, do you want a map of where the Breast Cancer Walk is going to be? It's a nice little map of downtown Nashville if nothing else. I have your e-mail address.

ETA: I went ahead and send you the map by e-mail.

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Got it; thanks. My hotel is across the river and up 65 a bit, about 3.5 miles via Google Earth. It looks like I'll have to walk along the interstate, so I might see if there are city bus routes serving the area or take a chance I'll find a place to park. Do you think parking will be an issue?

ETA: Bah. The bus past my hotel doesn't run on Saturdays. ETA2: ooh! but a different line does!

Where up 65? Near Trinity Lane?

There are plenty of pay parking garages in downtown, but this walk is really going to screw things up because of the street closures. I'll see if I can find some more information that might make getting to the Festival easier.

Hey, Chris, I have an idea. I'll send you a PM.

The weather looks nice for the festival.

http://www.wsmv.com/category/213405/pinpoint-weather-forecast

If anyone is interested, they can always check this website for the latest forecast.