A Day of Books and Roses

I got this email this morning from one of my oldest friends who has been living in Barcelona (in Spain) for the last few months and I thought I’d share it with you. She sent me these photos.
She said: 

“Today, 23 April, was St Jordi’s (St George’s) Day here – he is the patron saint of Barcelona and to celebrate, the streets in the centre of town were made car free. 

Dozens and dozens of stalls were set up on the streets from booksellers (selling books and having book signings with long queues) and florists selling red roses. 

You would have loved it. It is an unofficial holiday here, a sort of Valentine’s Day, and the crowds were huge, all coming to buy books and roses.  And everyone did!  I couldn’t quite believe the crowds.  There were no food stalls, no music, a few ticketed events, but the streets were packed and just about everyone had a rose and was browsing books! “

She’s right — I would have loved it. How brilliant is that — a festival  that people turn out for in their thousands — just celebrating books and their love of them. 

So now you know — if you’re ever near Barcelona around the 23 April — go to their wonderful festival of books for St Jordi’s day.

Wouldn’t you love it if this kind of thing happened near you? Can you imagine it?