Instituto Cervantes brings back Día del Libro for World Book Day

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MANILA, Philippines — In commemoration of World Book Day on April 23, Instituto Cervantes de Manila will bring back its "Día del Libro" event filled with activities dedicated to the love of reading.

The event in partnership with the Embassy of Spain and supported by Ayala Land and Make it Makati will take place on April 25 at the Ayala Triangle Gardens.

Several bookstores and publishing houses will be selling books onsite at a 20% discount, with each purchase — as in Spanish tradition — accompanied by a free rose.

H. E. Miguel Utray, Ambassador of Spain to the Philippines, will start proceedings with a special inauguration at 9 a.m. as the event runs late into the night.

The famous Spanish novel "Don Quixote" will be a central focus of activities, such as the long-running "Escribo el Quijote," where vistors are tasked with handwriting the book.

The final hand-written book will be deposited in the Library of Instituto Cervantes and participants in the handwriting chain will receive a free book.

There will also be a storytelling session of "Las aventuras de Don Quijote" for young readers and a sneak peek of Repertory Philippines' upcoming production of "Man of La Mancha" starring Nonie Buencamino as Don Quijote and Miguel de Cervantes.

Visitors are encouraged to join the "Libros que Importan" or Books That Matter public book exchange where each donated book has a personal note explaining what it means to the original owner, as well as two free beginner Spanish classes.

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The latter may come in handy for college students eager to join the Universitarian Yincana event, which includes activities like dance, live music, quizzes, poetry creation, drawings, and more.

An Argentinian tango performance "Tango para siempre" or Tango Forever may inspire visitors to join a free Latin dance by Manila SBKZ Latin Dance Festival in the afternoon,

In between both dance events is the Jazz en el parque concert by Gabriel Lazaro and Bergan Nuñez with tributes to Latin jazz masters.

Instituto Cervantes is inviting poetry lovers to the "Berson Hispano-Pinoy" recital to bring Spanish and Filipino verses to life.

There is also the "Plantadores de Historias" or Story Planters activity where participants will write poems and short stories on plantable papers, which will later be potted.

A similar event by the Design Center of the Philippines are hands-on workshops on handmade paper for journal making.

On the art front, Urban Sketchers Manila will display their works on Día del Libro and conduct a workshop on sketching in a "Latag" space. Sociedad Española de Beneficencia, meanwhile, will present in "Paella Gigante" a live cooking session accompanied by a flamenco performance.

Capping off the event is a live concert by Brownman Revival and a DJ session, though the "La Noche del Libro" will be held outside of the premises at Electric Sala until 4:30 a.m.

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