Festival passes for the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books are now on sale, and before you think, "Wait, I thought the festival was free," you're right—kind of. Walk into the event held at the USC campus on April 18 and 19, and you'll be able to see most panels, conversations and demonstrations free of charge, but only if there's room. You can guarantee yourself a seat with conversation tickets or festival passes, and while there are plenty of exhibitors to see, we're particularly excited about all the food demos and panels on both days. To give you an idea: Recent James Beard Award finalist nominee Ludo Lefebvre will be talking about his book Crave, which just celebrated its 10th anniversary; and restaurant critic Jonathan Gold will lead a discussion with LA-based chefs about our city's food movement.
If you read cookbooks on the reg and love to talk food, check out the lineup for all things food at the festival:
Cooking Demos
Saturday, April 18
11am: Zoe Nathan, Huckleberry
12:30pm: Ludo Lefebvre, Crave
2pm: Aarti Sequeira, Aarti Party
3:30pm: Scott Daigre, Tomatomania
Sunday, April 19
11am: Hans Röckenwagner, Das Cookbook
12:30pm: Katie Lee, Endless Summer
2pm: Pauley Perrette, Donna Bell's Bakeshop
3:30pm: Matthew Kenney, Cooked Raw
Panels & Conversations
Saturday, April 18
11am: Eat This: The L.A. Food Movement. LA Times Restaurant Critic Jonathan Gold will be moderating a conversation about LA's food movement with Gilberto Cetina, Gilberto Cetina, Jr., Valerie Gordon and Christine Moore.
Noon: To Live and Dine in L.A.: Food Pasts, Food Futures—A Conversation with Josh Kun and Roy Choi.
Sunday, April 19
3:30pm: Food & Identity: The Culture of Eating in America. LA Times Food Editor Amy Scattergood will be moderating a conversation featuring Simon Majumdar, Forrest Pritchard and Jared Stone.
There are, of course, other things going on at the event—check out the festival's website for a full schedule.