Hello lovely people,
On April 24th, YALfestNL took place and I went! My friend and I bought tickets for this back in November and we were counting the days!
When we arrived, we were given a wrist band – we wore an orange one because we first had our workshop and then the photo moment with the authors. After we entered we were given a goody bag! It had a book in it – in Dutch – which was ‘The Distance from Me to You’ by Marina Gessner. Since I don’t read in Dutch anymore, I gifted the book to my mum. I do think this is a book that I want to read so maybe in the future I will add this to the books I own. My friend got the other book that they were giving out ‘Riders’ by Veronica Rossi – which I for sure want to read! There were also some other some things in the goody back, like: an ‘Efteling’ pen, some bookmarks, the programme of the day, the bookplates that were signed by the authors(!!), and more!
Bookplates: We start at the top left corner: Tahereh Mafi, Lucy Ivison, Ransom Riggs, Stephanie Perkins (now at the bottom right corner), Tom Ellen, Arwen Elys Dayton and Becky Albertalli! 
We started the day of with an interview on the main stage. They did a game with the authors, asked some questions and they took some questions from the audience. It was a bit unfortunate that there weren’t enough seats, so a lot of people – including my friend and I – had to stand. 
After the interview, it was time for a break! We first went to the bookstand, but they only sold Dutch books, so I bought two magnetic bookmarks and an awesome mug! We went upstairs to pick up lunch, and since I have a gluten allergy I e-mailed before hand and a gluten-free lunch was present for me :D! We had lunch and did some more shopping at the stands upstairs. I bought some jewellery that is movie/book related!
Now it was time for the workshop. We had a writing workshop, which was given by Iris Boter. She told us the basis for writing: what we had to think about while writing, how to keep on writing, and some more tips. It was a very useful workshop and I also bought the book she wrote on how to write a book!
Next was another small break before we could get our picture taken with the authors! We waited in line and before I knew it, it was over. We didn’t have time to talk to the authors; it was just take a photo and that was it, unfortunately. But I am still very happy that I have a picture with them! And after that I got a good picture of all the authors!
YALfestNL was over, and I was bumped that it was. We went into a book shop and bought some books! Which I bought will be in my book haul!
See you next year #YALfestNL!
Love,
Samantha
