Providence Anarchist Bookfair
Are there any songs about Providence? There should be!
Tabling for AK is always an adventure! I had the distinct pleasure of traveling up to Rhode Island this past weekend to table at the 5th Annual Providence Anarchist Bookfair. I’m not gonna lie, I was not a happy camper when Spencer (an awesome tabling helper!) and I rolled into Providence at about 11pm on Friday night after a ten hour drive through heavy traffic and construction. It was uphill from there, as our gracious host/bookfair organizer, Mark, offered us some delicious white peaches to stave off the malnutrition we had developed on the drive. I’m staring off wistfully thinking about them right now…
In my grand bookfair tabling style, I stayed up way too late hanging out with our hosts, taking a walk to the check out the amazing local community garden, and getting a taste of Providence night life. It would have been downright improper to get a good night’s sleep before tabling. Heavens!
FOO FEST is an outdoor street festival with bands, beer, food, cheap-ass coffee (my personal favorite. My eyes were permanently glued open all day due to over-caffeination) and, of course, a book fair right in the thick of it. It’s always a pleasure to hang out with other tabling friends, like folks from the Wooden Shoe, Lucy Parsons Center, PM Press, the Justseeds Artists’ Cooperative, and new friends from the Providence IWW and NEFAC. Old friends were seen, new friends were made, and plenty of books were sold. The tabling wound down around 8pm so we packed up and enjoyed the festival for a bit, then took our tired asses back to home base.
I am still tired, and somewhat regretful that we didn’t stay long enough to go to the beach on Sunday. If you haven’t had a chance to go to the Providence Anarchist Bookfair you are missing out. Thanks to Gray and Mark for making this happen! I can’t wait to go again next year.