Wednesday, September 18, 2024

The Livingston Parish Library is thrilled to announce the award-winning Johnette Downing as the headliner for this year’s Livingston Parish Book Festival. 

A New Orleans native, Downing is a renowned author, singer, musician, composer, illustrator, and poet whose work is dedicated to celebrating childhood, nurturing cultural exchanges, and fostering literacy through her music and books.  

Called the “Musical Ambassador to Children” and the “Pied Piper of Louisiana Music Traditions,” Downing serves up a gumbo of Louisiana roots music and books in a toe-tapping, two-stepping fun time for families across the globe.  

Downing will be one of dozens of authors and performers attending the Ninth Annual Livingston Parish Book Festival, which will be held from 11 a.m. – 4 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 9, 2024, at the Main Branch in Livingston, located at 20390 Iowa Street, Livingston, LA, 70754. 

“We’re excited to have someone as accomplished, renowned, and talented as Johnette Downing headline the Livingston Parish Book Festival,” said Livingston Parish Library Director Michelle Parrish. “Johnette has performed for families all over the world, and we are confident that those who attend this year’s Book Festival will enjoy her interactive, energetic, and positive performance.” 

A Governor of the Recording Academy’s Memphis Chapter, Downing has garnered multiple awards during her illustrious career, including a 2017 Louisiana Writer Award, 59th Grammy Award Participant Certificate, eight Parents’ Choice Awards, four iParenting Media Awards, two Parent’s Guide To Children’s Media Awards, five National Parenting Publications Awards, a Family Choice Award, two Family Review Center Awards, Fids and Kamily Award, Family Review Center Gold Award, Family Review Center Best of the Year Award, DAR Literacy Promotion Award, and an Imagination Award.  

Her work has received rave reviews on Grammy.com and in Nick Jr. Magazine, Family Fun Magazine, Parenting Magazine, Parent’s Magazine, Publisher’s Weekly, American Library Association’s Booklist, School Library Journal, Washington Post, Early Childhood News, Cookie Magazine, The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Daily News, New Orleans Magazine, and Big Apple Parent to name a few.  

Further, she was selected as one of “The Women of the Year 2008” by New Orleans City Business Magazine, “Thirty People to Watch in 2000” by New Orleans Magazine, and “Forty Under Forty” by Gambit Weekly Magazine. 

For more information, visit www.mylpl.info/BookFestival or call the Livingston Parish Library at (225) 686-4100.