Taste of the Book Fair
10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025
- Bivouac Adventure Lodge, 3980 30th St.
- Verbatim Books, 3793 30th St.
- Bargain Center parking lot, North Park Way and Ray St.
- Subterranean Coffee, 3764 30th St.
A beloved neighborhood book fair that was nearly canceled gave a local cidery a chance to fulfill a vision: becoming a true "third place."
"I always told my friends I wanted them to write a book here, or I hope somebody writes the next great screenplay," said Lara Worm, owner of Bivouac Ciderworks.
Worm first heard that the North Park Book Fair was in jeopardy from her sister, local paranormal romance author Heather Nix.
Instead of seeing thousands of book lovers left stranded due to construction and permit issues, she offered up the Bivouac Adventure Lodge space on 30th Street. While the space is roomy, it's no match for a street fair. But, she says, they're ready to embrace the chaos.
"We're here to have fun. We're going to meet some authors, we're going to have some cider … it's not the most structured, it's not the most planned, there's not tickets. So I would say anybody who's planning to come in, come with an open mind," Worm said.
Bivouac opened eight years ago, and last year expanded with the addition of the Adventure Lodge — a bright, spacious-yet-cozy cafe, restaurant and bar modeled after a glamping yurt. The Adventure Lodge serves food, including brunch, with a full cafe — plus, of course, all of Bivouac’s ciders and a selection of brandy-based cocktails.
For Worm, the addition was a step toward what she wants from her work.
"The whole key of the space is to be a community center space. Of course, we're a cider bar and we have a coffee shop and we sell food and we sell cider to go," she said. "But really, I love creating a hub for artists and writers and community members. My real focus was to get people to slow down a little bit, get to know their neighbors and have organic conversations with people that they might not hang out with and in a different place or in a different time."
On its new date, the mini version of the fair — dubbed Taste of the Book Fair — is spread across several hubs in North Park. Authors will gather for mingling and signings at Bivouac; artists and crafters will set up at Verbatim Books; and bookstores, small presses and zine makers will fill the Bargain Center parking lot, adjacent to Verbatim. Recently added is Subterranean Coffee, which will host romance writers in a "smut author alley."
Worm says North Park is a creative, collaborative neighborhood and she sees her space — and this book fair — as a way to capture and celebrate that spirit.
"I think you see it in a lot of other great cities in the world where there are third places or city centers or cafes or plazas where artists are going, where kids are going, where dogs are going, where people drinking are going, where well, people are going — all of the things we know are occurring in society. But they all happen in one place and they coexist peacefully. We don't have a ton of that in San Diego," Worm said.
