Here are Literary Festivals and Book Fairs for African writers and bibliophiles on the continent and the diaspora to look out for in 2025.
Today, we give you a list of literary festivals and book fairs you can attend this year. Please note that many dates have not been confirmed this early but organisers have either confirmed them or they usually happen and there is no reason to believe that they will not have an edition this year. These are also festivals where you can find a large participation of writers of African descent across the globe.
We asked those who follow us on social media what festivals are expected to happen, and we thank all those who shared. We will update this page regularly, so don’t worry if your favourite event has not been listed yet. Please note that you can still suggest a festival to be added to this list, and we will add it. Do it either on our socials or in the comments on this page.
Without further ado, here are festivals for you to diarise for 2025. The format is date, festival, and venue.
January
- January 17 – 19: Marrakech English Book Festival 2025, Marrakesh, Morocco
- January 21 – 25: Festival International de Littérature Créole en Haïti 2025, Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves, Cap-Haïtien and Saint-Marc, Haiti.
- January 24 – February 6: Cairo International Book Fair 2025, Cairo, Egypt
- January 24 – 27: Sharjah Festival of African Literature, Sharjah, UAE
- January 25: All Africa Women Poetry Festival 2025, Nairobi, Kenya
- January 25: Benue Book & Arts Festival 2025, Nottingham, UK
- January 29 – 30: Festival of African Literature 2025, Abuja, Nigeria
- January 30 – February 2: Le Festival du Livre Africain de Marrakech (FLAM), Marakesh, Morocco
- January 31 – February 2: Thika Book Fair 2024, Thika, Kenya
February
- February 18 – 22: Rentree Littéraire du Mali 2025, Bamako, Mali
- February 21: Salon Africain du Livre Audio et des Séries Radio de Kinshasa, Kinshasa, DR Congo
- February 21 – 22: Benue Book & Arts Festival 2025, Makurdi, Nigeria
- February 27 – March 1: iLembe Book Festival 2025, Groutville, Kwazulu Natal
March
- March 1 – 2: Ibuyambo Book Festival 2025, Cape Town, South Africa
- March 6 – 9: Festival Atlantide 2025, Nantes, France
- March 11 – 13: London Book Fair 2025, London, UK
- March 14 – 16: REVEAL! Comic Arts Festival 2025, Nairobi, Kenya
- March 14 – 16: Salon Du Livre Africain de Paris 2025, Paris, France
- March 18 – 23: Time of the Writer 2025, Durban, South Africa
- March 18 – 26: Open Book Youth Fest, Cape Town, South Africa
- March 14 – 16: Salon Du Livre Africain De Paris 2025, Paris, France.
- March 15: Afro Romcon: Lagos’ First Romance Convention, Lagos, Nigeria
- March 20: Platinum Authors Conference, Lusaka, Zambia
- March 29: Black British Book Festival 2025, Manchester, UK
April
- April 11 – 13: NYrobi Book Fest 2025, Nairobi, Kenya
- April 11 – 13: Festival du Livre de Paris 2025, Paris, France
- April 12: Benjamin Zephaniah Day, Brunel University, London, United Kingdom
- April 17 – 27: Le Salon International de l’Edition et du Livre Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
- April 18 – 25: Rabat International Book Fair 2025, Rabat, Tunisia
- April 25 – May 4: Foire Internationale Du Livre Tunis 2025, Tunis, Tunisia
- April 23 – 25: 72 heures du livre 2025, Conakry Guinea
- April 26 – 27: Zazzau Books and Arts Festival, Zaria, Nigeria
May
- May 1 – 4: Bocas Lit Fest, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
- May 5 – 7: Nigeria International Book Fair 2025, Lagos, Nigeria
- May 6 – 10: Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan 2025, Abidjan Cote D’ivoire.
- May 10: Afrofuturism Book Fair 2025, Johannesburg, South Africa
- May 15 – 17: Salon Du Livre De Pei, St Paul, Reunion
- May 16 – 18: Calabash Literary Festival 2025, Calabash Bay, Jamaica
- May 22 – 23: Festival International de Littérature de Dakar (Filid), Dakar, Senegal
- May 22 – 23: Zanzibar Book Fair 2025, Zanzibar, Tanzania
- May 30 – June 1: Black Romance Book Festival 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
- May 31: Kenya Publishers Association Regional Fair 2025, Kisii, Kenya
June
- June 19 – 20 Feira do Livro de Maputo 2025, Maputo, Mozambique
- June 19 – 22: Afrolution Festival 2025, Berlin, Germany
- June 25 – June 28: African Literature Association Conference, Nairobi, Kenya
- June 25 – July 11: Le Festival Haïti-Monde 2025, Paris, France
- June 26: Festival Ivorien De La Creation Poetique Che Les Jeunes, Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
- June 26 – 29: Nairobi Litfest 2025, Nairobi, Kenya
- June 27 – 30: Eastern Cape Literature Festival 2025, Makhanda, South Africa
- June 28: The Black Literary Festival, London, UK
- June 29 – July 1: Sigana International Storytelling Festival 2025, Nairobi, Kenya
- June 29 – July 5: Things Fall Apart Festival 2025, Enugu, Nigeria
July
- July 3 – 6: Guyana Prize Literary Festival 2025, Georgetown, Guyana
- July 11 – 13: The Book Fairy Festival 2025, Kingston, Jamaica
- July 12: Caribbean Literature Day 2025, Caribbean
- July 18 – 20: African Book Festival Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- July 26 – 31: Hargeysa International Book Fair 2025, Hargeisa, Somaliland
- July 26 – 31: Umuofia Arts and Book Festival 2025, Enugu, Nigeria
August
- August 7 – 10: The African Book Fair 2025 by Soma Nami Books, Nairobi, Kenya
- August 15 – 17: Kampala Writes LitFest 2025, Kampala, Uganda
- August 22 – 24: Sokoto Book and Arts Festival 2025, Sokoto, Nigeria
September
- September 5 – 7: Open Book Festival 2024, Cape Town, South Africa
- September 5 – 7: New York Black and African Literature Festival 2025, New York, USA
- September 11 – 13: Kano International Poetry Festival (KAPFEST) 2025, Kano, Nigeria
- September 19 – 21: Macondo Literary Festival, Nairobi, Kenya
- September 25 – 28: Jinja International Poetry Festival 2025, Jinja, Uganda
October
- October 2 – 5: Quramo Festival of Words 2025, Lagos, Nigeria
- October 2 – 11: Poetry Africa Festival 2025, Durban, South Africa.
- October 15 – 19: Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025, Frankfurt, Germany
- October 27 – November 2: African Writers Conference 2025, Maseru, Lesotho
November
- November 6 – 9: British Virgin Islands Literary Festival 2025, Road Town, British Virgin Islands
- November 10-16: Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- November 10-16: Abuja Poetry Festival 2025, Abuja, Nigeria
- November 20 – 22: Ake Book & Arts Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
December
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