Glastonbury Residents Ready To 'Find Waldo' In Local Business Event

GLASTONBURY, CT — River Bend Bookshop in Glastonbury is hosting the annual "Where"s Waldo Search" with Candlewick Press.

The town-wide scavenger hunt is scheduled to start on July 1 and end with a Waldo Search Party on July 30 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the bookshop, located at 2217 Main St.

So Where’s Waldo?

In Glastonbury, the iconic children’s book character in the red-and-white- striped shirt and black-rimmed specs will be visiting 20 local businesses this July. Celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022, "Find Waldo Local" is designed to be a summer vacation activity along with a way to support local businesses, including Pinwheels Toys & Games, Brown Butter Creations, Gotta Have It Boutique, Liquid Nirvana and many more.

Anyone who wants to join the fun can pick up a "Find Waldo Local in Glastonbury" passport, which lists all participating sites where a small Waldo will be hiding. With each Waldo spotted, participants can get their passport stamped or signed by the participating shop.

To make things a little more challenging, there will be one slightly different Waldo hidden. Collecting store stamps or signatures at 2 businesses will entitle diligent seekers entry into a grand-prize drawing for Waldo books and paraphernalia.

Martin Handford's collections of crowd scenes took the world by storm in the late 1980s, and since then the books have held a cherished place on bookstore shelves. More than 78 million Waldo books have been sold worldwide, and they’ve been translated into over thirty languages. An entire generation has grown up searching for Waldo.

In celebration of Waldo’s longevity and popularity, Candlewick Press teams up with the American Booksellers Association and hundreds of independent bookstores across the country for some hide-and- seek fun designed to encourage residents to patronize their local businesses.

There is no charge to participate, and the hunt lasts for the entire month of July. For more information about hunting for Waldo in Glastonbury, call a bookseller at (860) 430-6608 or visit riverbendbookshop.com. River Bend.