Throwback Grown Up Book Fair, the Sequel!

4/14: We are sold out! See you Saturday :)

We're back, bad and bigger too! After a sold out first year, we're heading back in time to revel in some sweet memories and celebrate the awesomeness of reading.  Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront (BPRW) is once again bringing the childhood thrill of book fairs back to adults on Saturday, April 18th at our brand new home: the unbelievably rad SEABA Center on Pine Street!

Who of us hasn't spent their adult life chasing the joy of the book fair? You pinned on that Book It button with well-deserved satisfaction, effortlessly won that personal pan pizza reading prize, and can still summon the smell of a fresh stack of Scholastic Book Fair catalogs delivered to your elementary school classroom. You're not alone!


Independent bookseller and our friend Phoenix Books is once again bringing the nostalgia of your favorite school book fair, with both current and "vintage" great reads and gifts for kids and adults!

So like, what's the haps once we've scored our books? 
So far...

• Retro Theme Selfie Station with props, complete with that one school photo backdrop every Gen X and Millennial knows well
• Bar with selections from our friends at SEABA
• Grab and go food from our friends at Sugarsnap: an absolutely bonkers menu that is sure to ring nostalgic (lunch) bells! See below and pre-order now!
• Once you've cleaned your plate, Pinky Promise Pastry is working on a back in the day Bake Sale for all your dessert needs: Dunkaroos? Lisa Frank Cotton Candy? Cosmic Brownies? YES PLEASE.
• Video wall with all your favorite music from the heyday of MTV (Remember videos? Remember MTV?) and classic sitcoms too 
• Old school crafts we're trying to bring back! We'll provide the stuff to make Friendship Pins, but you have to bring the Tretorns and Reeboks.
• Wicked cool local photographer Luke Awtry is all that and a bag of chips. He'll be there to snap your school photos against another infamous backdrop: you know, the cool laser one they charged our parents more for? That one.**
• Brand new for Session Two only this year: Anyone who has been on the dance floors of Retronome, Red Square, Monkey House (and so many more) knows that local DJ Two Sev understands the assignment: spinning 80s/90s/early 00s tunes so dope you won't be able to resist reliving your school dance days. That's right: we're having a rockin' dance party that's over by 9pm, just how we like it these days.

**Session Two Only, photos will available online after edits 

…and much more. More details to be announced, follow and watch our socials here on Facebook and here on Instagram for updates~~

Your ticket supports the programs and services of Burlington Parks, Recreation & Waterfront

*Each ticket is valid for one person's entry to the selected day/time of the event. Sales are final and non-refundable. Children and families are welcome for Session One only, while Session Two is for adults 18+*

General Admission: $11 Session One 2:30p-5:00

$13 Session Two 6:00p-9:00p

• SATURDAY Afternoon session, families welcome, 21+ to drink

• SATURDAY Evening session, 18+ to enter, 21+ to drink

Drumroll, please....this year's special merch*!

Why did we ever stop using metal lunchboxes? Selecting what tv show/band/toy etc would grace our lunchbox for the year was totally difficult but so. much. fun. Was it because plastic lunchboxes would be cheaper? Lighter to carry? Not used as projectile weapons on the playground? Who can say, really, but we're pretty excited to bring them back...

This lunchbox is actually shiny and black, with a full color decal like the one below on the front. Inside you'll find super dope 2-4" vinyl Throwback stickers and a stash of retro candy you were definitely not allowed to pack in grade school.

*Available for pick up at event with pre-purchase, limited availability at event

Designs by David Magnanelli

The joy and heartbreak of school lunches in the 80s and 90s. That Friday rectangular pizza somehow we all remember being delicious no matter where we grew up? Lunch money day for sure. Yet there was also Salisbury steak, fish sticks and canned fruit in, for some reason, heavy syrup. Sometimes at 10am. Grody to the max.

Sugarsnap has dreamt up a menu for the Book Fair that’s based on our childhood favorites: but unlike our questionable childhood cafeterias, they are serving absolutely choice food we would have *gladly* been first shift lunch for!

Also? There’s milk and chocolate milk in cartons. IN CARTONS.

Want to pre-order? You can do so at our ticketing link when you purchase and your QR code will be all you need. Whether pre-ordering or ordering at the event, join the lunch line and enjoy some tasty treats!