UTRGV is bringing the joy and wonder of literacy to the community with its annual Festival of International Books & Arts through March 5. The educational and entertaining event promotes literacy and appreciation of reading for all ages.

Dahlia Guerra, special assistant to the dean of the College Fine Arts at UTRGV assistant vice president for Public Art & Special Projects, said each year the festival has a new theme.

“We do that to inspire the community through the cultural arts, and to remind our community of the importance of promoting literacy, especially early childhood literacy,” she said.

The theme for this year’s FESTIBA is “Transforming our World Through Arts and Literacy.”

“The theme this year highlights the transformative power of the arts, which can touch us and move us, and points to the arts as a great source of inspiration to bring people together and transform communities,” Guerra said.

By focusing on transformation, FESTIBA hopes to show how the creative and cultural arts create spaces in which people can share their experiences, no matter how different their lives and experiences are.

Some of the highlights of FESTIBA 2023 include:

• FESTIBA 2023 the Community Festival at the Edinburg Bookfest on Feb. 24 at the Dustin M. Sekula Memorial Library in Edinburg
• Writing workshop on Feb. 27 with San Antonio Poet Laureate Andrea “Vocab” Sanderson
• A poetry performance and Q&A with Sanderson and frontera storyteller, poet and biographer Gris Muñoz
• Piano concert with internationally renowned pianist Robert Satterlee
• The FESTIBA Mariachi Festival, which includes masterclasses, competitions and a concert featuring Mariachi Sol de México de José Hernández on March 3-4.

“I am delighted that FESTIBA is still a vibrant and significant university festival after 17 years,” Guerra said. “It has been a wonderful opportunity throughout the years to showcase our university, our students and our faculty to the community. It’s also a great occasion to gather each year and bring national and international talent in music, art and literary fields to our campus. IT’s a great way to inspire our students and the community alike.”

A complete list of FESTIBA events as well as more information on times, tickets and locations are available online.