Here are the literary festivals and Book Fairs for African writers and bibliophiles on the continent and in the diaspora to look out for in 2026.
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 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. Please do it either on our social media 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 14 – 18: Sharjah Festival of African Literature, Sharjah, UAE
- January 21– February 3: Cairo International Book Fair 2026, Cairo, Egypt
February
- February 5 – 7: Festival International du Livre de San Pedro (FESTIL-SP), San Pedro, Côte d’Ivoire.
- February 10 – 14: Rentree Littéraire du Mali 2026, Bamako, Mali
- February 20 – 21: Ibuyambo Book Festival 2026, Langa, South Africa
- February 21 – 22: Benue Book & Arts Festival 2025, Makurdi, Nigeria
March
- March 10 – 12: London Book Fair 2026, London, UK
- March 20 – 22: Salon Du Livre Africain de Paris 2026, Paris, France
- March 19 – 22: Festival Atlantide 2026, Nantes, France
- March 23 – 28: Time of the Writer 2026, Durban, South Africa
April
- April 17 – 19: Festival du Livre de Paris 2026, Paris, France
- April 18: Brown Shuga Books Festival 2026, London, UK
- April 23 – May 3: Foire Internationale Du Livre Tunis 2026, Tunis, Tunisia
- April 28 – May 2: Salon International du Livre d’Abidjan 2026, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire
May
- April 30 – May 3: Bocas Lit Fest 2026, Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago
- May 13 – 15: Nigeria International Book Fair 2026, Lagos, Nigeria
- May 22 – 24: Bookrica Africa Books Expo, Nairobi, Kenya
- May 22 – 25: Afrolution Festival 2026, Berlin, Germany
- May 28 – 30: African Literature Association Conference 2026, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, USA
- May 29 – 31: African Book Festival Berlin, Berlin, Germany
- May 29 – 31: Black Romance Book Festival 2026, Atlanta, GA, USA
June
- May 7 – 10: Nairobi Litfest 2026, Nairobi, Kenya
- June 26 – July 5: Eastern Cape Literature Festival 2026, Makhanda, South Africa
July
- July 12: Caribbean Literature Day 2025, Caribbean
August
September
- September 4 – 6: Open Book Festival 2026, Cape Town, South Africa
- September 18 – 20: Macondo Literary Festival 2026, Nairobi, Kenya
- September 25 – 30: Nairobi International Book Fair 2026, Nairobi, Kenya
October
- October 22 – 24: Salon du Livre Feminin Dakar 2025, Dakar, Senegal
- October 7 – 11: Frankfurter Buchmesse 2026, Frankfurt, Germany
- October 23 – 26: Jamaica Book Festival 2026, Montego Bay, Jamaica
November
- November 16 – 22: Lagos Arts and Book Festival 2026, Lagos, Nigeria
December
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