Tonight, in the Plaza de la Cultura in Santo Domingo, the VIII International Book Fair will open. The fair is the most visited public event in the Dominican Republic with an estimated more than one million people reported to have visited last year. Attendance is expected to be greated this year.
President Leonel Fernandez will be present at the inaugural event that will take place at the Eduardo Brito Hall of the National Theater. The event is dedicated to Aida Cartagena Portalatin, and Italy is the country of honor.
This year it is being held at the Plaza de la Cultura, an area of 88,000 square meters of parklands, the National Theater, the museums of History and the Dominican Man as well as the National Library. Over 25 areas have been refurbished for the event, including monuments, plazas, and sculptures.
Among the exhibits is a rare first edition of Cervantes’ Don Quixote, the good ship Leonore, and the Popemobile used in two of the papal visits to the Dominican Republic.
Three little trains will carry people around the fair.
At the Italian Pavillion, visitors will enter through the mouth of the whale in the Story of Pinocchio, an Italian favorite.
For more happenings in the DR, see http://www.dr1.com/calendar