02/07/2026
Last weekend I traveled up to Porto to ‘s Babell Literary Festival, whose thesis is: “Uma cidade-livro é também uma cidade livre.” (A city of books, is a free city.) 🙏🏼
Taking place in public places across Porto made it easy for citizens to easily participate and get involved.
I especially loved the concept of attendance, you buy a book from a local bookstore in exchange for an event entrance - great initiative to support local bookstores. 🩷
Their vision: “grounded in the belief that when it comes to books and reading more is always better, it draws from inspiration the concept of the infinite library, created by Jorge Luis Borges in his short story “The Library of Babel,” a paradise of diversity and creation, and a way of imagining Porto as a Book City.
I also appreciated that they merged local Portuguese culture with international names in literature with speakers like and .author
They also inaugurated & ‘s Manifesto Library within .lello which highlights banned or censored books.
Overall, it was an inspiring celebration of literature and culture, the antithesis to the digitally driven world we live in today.
