Signature's tents stand before stately Powell Library.

Movie-mad Los Angeles proved it has a more literary side over the weekend at the 11th annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, held on the grounds of UCLA in west Los Angeles. The event is widely regarded as one of the largest public literary festivals in the U.S.

More than 127,000 attendees came out to meet authors ranging from academics to literary lioness Joan Didion to Julie "Mary Poppins" Andrews. It took three event rental companies to provide support for the festival, which played host to 350 booths for booksellers and concessionaires.

The Target Children's stage.

The California branch of Frederick, Md.-based Signature Special Event Services provided electrical power, flooring, and 23,000-square feet of canopies for the event. Greg Turk, Signature's manager of national events, praised the well-oiled partnership of the UCLA facilities team and sponsor Los Angles Times. It also helped that as a UCLA alumnus himself, "I know the turf," Turk says.

Covina, Calif.-based A1 Event & Party Rentals provided just over 130 tents, according to special event coordinator Cindy Santiago. Los Angeles-based Classic Party Rentals supplied more than 10,000 square feet of tenting for book signing areas, along with exhibitor rental items including tables, chairs and linen, reports senior account manager Matt Wiltshire.

The event traditionally has a happy ending for suppliers--virtually all services were loaded out by Monday, with the last trucks finishing up yesterday. "This is one of my best clients," Santiago notes. "They are so very well organized, it makes a pretty smooth ride for us."

Photos by Lisa Hurley/Special Events Magazine