THE Philippine Book Festival that opens today, June 2, 2023, at the World Trade Center, Pasay City, will have a “Disneyland” feel to it, the National Book Development Board (NBDB) said Thursday.

Aside from books, children can enjoy puppet shows, storytelling activities and Play-Doh toys, the board said.

“The Philippine Book Festival is

the largest traveling Pinoy book fair. We really want to give privacy to our own voice and our own language and all our stories,” NBDB Executive Director Charisse Aquino-Tugade said in a television interview.

Tugade said the festival offers four exciting rounds: Comic Land, Kid Lit stage, Aral Aklat and Booktopia.

Educational materials can be found on Aral Aklat corner, Tugade said.

Visitors will be greeted by an exhibit featuring rare books from the National Library of the Philippines.

“With 190 events featuring both veteran and up-and-coming authors, three book exhibits, and thousands of Filipino-authored books for purchase, one could say that the three-day festival’s scope and ambition alone is reason enough to call it that,” the board said in a statement.

“Its Filipino-first, content-focused approach to the typical book fair is unprecedented in reinventing the humble retail fair as a platform for Philippine literature — and better yet, a place where writers, publishers and book lovers from all over the country can actually engage and connect,” the board said.

For the event, the NBDB partnered with the Book Development Association of the Philippines (BDAP), Komiket, the Philippine Educational Publishers Association (PEPA), and the Philippine Board on Books for Young People (PBBY) “Behind the aisles of trade books and educational materials set to hit the halls of World Trade Center are the fair organizers’ assertion that Philippine literature is deserving of our time and attention,” it added.

Among the events lined up are book signings by historian Ambeth Ocampo, “The Rain in España” author Gwy Saludes, National Artist Rio Alma, actress Rica Peralejo-Bonifacio and literary luminaries Cristina Pantoja Hidalgo, Dinah Roma, Eugene Evasco and Mookie Katigbak-Lacuesta.

The wide range of featured authors indicates the book festival’s vision of books as unique knowledge products, and in particular Philippine books’ potential for crossing over to different media, the organizers said.

A television adaptation of the popular Wattpad series “Love at First Read” (a show about reading a lost diary) will be shown at the main stage on June 3 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m., followed by a meet-andgreet session with actors Kyline Alcantara and Mavy Legaspi, and author ChiXnita. There will also be workshops by beloved komiks artist and TOYM 2022 awardee Manix Abrera, artist and deaf advocate CJ Reynaldo, as well as workshops on Baybayin, illustrating and designing children’s books, visual storytelling and creating webtoon series.

Entrance to the book fair is free. Most of the workshops and programs are free of charge.