I. Metshin: “My heart fills with joy when I see the interest of Kazan residents in books”

(KZN.RU, June 10, Mikhail Chentsov). The III summer book festival started in Kazan in the park “Chernoe Ozero” today. It is annually organized by the Center for Contemporary Culture “Smena”. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of the capital of the RT, visited the event, which this year is held on the open air for the first time. The Mayor sauntered along the alleys of the park, talked to citizens, and purchased several editions for family reading.

Natalia Fishman, the assistant to the President of the RT, Azat Abzalov, the head of the Kazan Department of Culture, visited the book festival together with the Mayor of Kazan. Kirill Maevsky, the art director of the Center for Contemporary Culture “Smena”, and Robert Hasanov, the founder of the project, conducted a small tour of the sites for the guests.

The main site of the festival was the book fair, in which more than 80 independent publishers, shops, and bookselling companies took part. It is located in a wooden pergola in the center of the park. You can find children's, scientific, and fiction literature among the variety of books. Having bought the work they liked, the guests of the festival could start reading without delay. The organizers have provided a corner for a reader. Anyone can comfortably sit in a deck chair in a tent, located in the shade of trees, and take their time to new editions.

Ilsur Metshin also took advantage of the opportunity and purchased several children's books for his son. The books that attracted his attention were following: the autobiographical work for children “How I Became a Traveler” by Fedor Konyukhov, a cognitive biography work by Evgenia Kalmykova “Nikolai Pirogov. The Great Surgeon”, book “Secrets of the Globe of Blau” by Maria Ponomarenko, which is devoted to the difficult and full of secrets fate of the huge 300-year-old globe. In addition, I. Metshin bought “Kyrlay Ekyatlyare. Fairy tales of Kyrlay” by Gabdulla Tukay, a small brochure “Staro-Tatarskaya Sloboda. A Walk”, and several children's colorings “Tatar Ornament”.

Thanks to the good weather and the fact that the festival was located in an open area, there were more visitors of the festival than ever. The park seemed to come to life. “The best publishing houses of the country, wonderful lecturers have come here. And this is another Kazan, cultural Kazan”, said the Mayor and thanked the participants and organizers of the festival for the project. “We can citizens of different ages here: small, young, and people of venerable age. My heart fills with joy when I see the interest of Kazan residents in books”, the Mayor shared his impressions.

Other participants and guests of the festival agreed with the fact that the project was successful. “I really like the festival. I come here for the second year in a row. It is very atmospheric, and you can feel the “book spirit” of the city”, said Karina Kostyukova, one of the women, who bought the comic “For those who are lost” and the biography of Edward Monk at the fair.

This project is of interest for publishers because participation in the fair is absolutely free for them. In addition, the event allows them to find points of contact with readers and to acquire professional contacts. “We are taking part in the summer and winter festivals of “Smena” for the third year. But today's festival is especially different from the previous ones because for the first time it's being held in the open-air and it's great! It’s a good weather today, good mood, and there are much more visitors than on the indoor area of the “Smena”. I hope this will be a good tradition for the next festivals”, said Guzel Hasanova, the head of the publishing house “Yulbasma”, and thanked the organizers of the event for the invitation. The festival will continue tomorrow on June 11 on the same site.

The Kazan City Hall regularly supports various initiatives, related to the popularization of reading. There are such events as the “Book-fest” and the “Aksenov-fest” every year in the city in addition to the summer and winter book festivals. Thus, on June 6, the 4th city festival “Book-fest-2017” was held in the Lyadskoy Garden, which was attended by about 2 thousand Kazan citizens and guests.