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 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 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 27 – March 1: iLembe Book Festival 2025, Groutville, Kwazulu Natal
- February 21 – 22: Benue Book & Arts Festival 2025, Makurdi, Nigeria
March
- March 6 – 9: Festival Atlantide 2025, Nantes, France
- March 11 – 13: London Book Fair 2025, London, UK
- March 18 – 23: Time of the Writer 2025, Durban, South Africa
- March 14 – 16: Salon Du Livre Africain De Paris 2025, Paris, France.
- March 29: Black British Book Festival 2025, Manchester, UK
April
- April 17 – 27: Le Salon International de l’Edition et du Livre Rabat, Rabat, Morocco
- April 25 – May 4: Foire Internationale Du Livre Tunis 2025, Tunis, Tunisia
- April 23 – 25: 72 heures du livre 2025, Conakry Guinea
May
- May 6 – 10: Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan 2025, Abidjan Cote D’ivoire.
- May 30 – June 1: Black Romance Book Festival 2025, Atlanta, GA, USA
June
July
- July 12: Caribbean Literature Day 2024, Caribbean
August
September
- September 5 – 7: Open Book Festival 2024, Cape Town, South Africa
- September 19 – 21: Macondo Literary Festival, Nairobi, Kenya
October
- October 2 – 11: Poetry Africa Festival 2025, Durban, South Africa.
- October 15 – 19: Frankfurter Buchmesse 2025, Frankfurt, Germany
November
- November 10-16: Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
- November 20 – 22: Ake Book & Arts Festival 2024, Lagos, Nigeria
December
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