10 Must-Visit Literary Festivals Around the World
Keep these literary festivals in mind when planning your next trip.
by Mariela Santos-Muñiz
Literature festivals are exciting events for readers, agents, authors, and everyone else that is part of book communities. Not only are they a good opportunity to immerse yourself in an environment of fellow local book enthusiasts, they’re also a chance to meet book lovers from outside of your immediate community.
The coronavirus pandemic which started in 2020 affected live events everywhere, especially those with large audiences, and book festivals were part of this. Now, literary festivals are back and taking place during different moments of the year. all around the world. Below are 10 noteworthy literature festivals, with festival dates. In some instances, dates for the next version of the festivals haven’t been announced yet but the 2023 dates can help you to have an idea, of when the festival might be held next year.
Here are 10 must-visit literary festivals around the world:
Edinburgh International Book Festival:
Location: Edinburgh, Scotland.
Founded in 1983, the Edinburgh International Book Festival now holds almost 1,000 events that hundreds of thousands of adults and children enjoy, like performances, readings, and discussions. Ada Limón, Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé, and Ian McEwan are some of the authors that have participated in the festival. Before the coronavirus pandemic started in 2020, the festival was held in a “tented Festival Village.” That year, it was done fully online, and a partnership was started with the University of Edinburgh to hold it at the Edinburgh College of Art, per the official website. Starting in 2024, you can find the festival at the Edinburgh Future’s Institute. Additional attractions in the capital city include other festivals like the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, Edinburgh International Film Festival, and The Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo (it’s not about ink on the skin but made up of performances.)
Date: August 10-26, 2024
Location: Jaipur, India.
Since 2006, the Jaipur Literature Festival has been visited by more than 1,000 attendees. David Armitage, Deepa Agarwal, and Nam Le have been among the past speakers. Speakers for 2024 have already been announced, including: Anand Neelakantan, Kalpana Raina, R.A. Mashelkar, Mary Beard, and Mridula Garg. The festival includes music too! If you’re looking to explore in and around Jaipur beyond the festival, consider visiting the Amber Palace or Jantar Mantar, to start. Don’t miss out on the festival’s international editions either, in Spain, New York, and more.
Date: February 1-5, 2024
Hay Festival of Literature & Arts:
Location: Hay-on-Wye, Wales.
“Hay Festival is an independent, mission-led charity" based in Wales, that in addition to its signature event there, puts together event all over the world, from Peru to the U.S., and more. Since 2012, Hay Medals are awarded annually for excellence in storytelling in the following categories: fiction, songwriting, prose and poetry. Past medal recipients include Alice Oseman, John le Carre, Salman Rushdie, and Margaret Atwood. There are many bookstores in this small town for book lovers.
Date: November 23-26, 2023 Winter Weekend
Bogotá International Book Fair:
Location: Bogotá, Colombia.
This annual festival - known in Spanish as the Feria Internacional del Libro de Bogotá or FILBo - is put together by the Colombian Book Chamber and Corferias. In 2023 alone, more than 600,000 attendees went to the festival and about 210,000 people went to cultural programming events, according to the website. Each year a different country is the Guest of Honor, and the last few years the Republic of Korea, Sweden, Colombia and Argentina were the chosen ones. 2024’s Guest of Honor is Brazil. Bogota is Colombia’s capital city and some of the attractions you can find there are the Botero Museum, the Monserrate Sanctuary, and the Rock al Parque rock music festival.
Date: April 17-May 2, 2024
Where: Sydney, Australia.
For those that are traveling or based Down Under, the Sydney Writer’s Festival is a good option as far as literary festivals go. It was founded in 1997. “Each ear, more than 400 writers take part in over 300 conversations, debates, performances and panel discussions to audiences of more than 80,000. One-third of our events are free, and our Live & Local streaming platform brings our Festival to life in regional libraries and community centres right across the country,” per the official festival website. Past guests at the festival include Colson Whitehead, Alexander Chee, Richard Flanagan, and Roxane Gay. In terms of local attractions, Sydney is home to the Sydney Opera House, football (or soccer) clubs, the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and more.
Date: May 20-26, 2024
Location: Brooklyn, USA.
The Brooklyn Book Festival is “the largest free literary festival” in New York City and was launched in 2006. This year, the festival events included a Children’s Day, a Virtual Festival Day, and Literary Marketplace, to name a few. Among the authors that have been a part of the festival are Moncho Alvarado, Nicole Chung, Ben Katzner, and Henry Threadgill. And last but not least, Beehive Books, Cornell University Press, and The Center for Fiction are some of the literary marketplace members.
Date: September 24-October 2, 2023
Toronto International Festival of Authors:
Location: Toronto, Canada.
This festival includes book launches, workshops, interviews and conferences; ongoing since 1974, authors from more than 100 countries have participated in events. Plus, there are events year-round for kids, presentations and performances, to name a few. TIFA has a virtual book club as well, with meetings via Zoom. There’s a lot for attendees to do and see here in Toronto, like checking out performances, readings, workshops and art exhibitions. Just in case you’re interested in things to do in the city, there’s St. Lawrence Market, Toronto Island Park, and the Distillery Historic District, where you can shop, eat and more.
Date: September 21-October 1, 2023
Location: Auckland, New Zealand.
Established in 1999, the Auckland Writers Festival has hosted writers like Sarah Quigley, Alice Walker and Elizabeth Gilbert. In 2020 the festival was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic but brought back in 2021. They have more than 200 public events, some of which are free. Program events for 2023 included speaker presentations, talks about artificial intelligence and writing, three Booker Prize-winning authors sharing their experiences, and more. Several festivals are held in Auckland, such as the New Zealand International Film Festival and the Auckland Festival of the Arts. There’s also rugby and cricket matches in the city, as well as water activities.
Date: May 14-19, 2024
Location: Washington, D.C., USA.
The National Book Festival is held by the U.S. Library of Congress, founded in 2021 by then-First Lady Laura Bush and the then-Librarian of Congress, James H. Billington. In about 20 years, festival attendance grew from about 25,000 people to around more than 200,000. During 2020 and 2021, the festival was done virtually and starting in 2022, continued to be housed at the Washington Convention Center. Prior to that, the festival was done at the National Mall and the Library of Congress, the latter in its first year. Featured authors in the past have included Meg Medina, Joy Harjo, Natasha Trethewey, and Bob Woodward.
Date: August 24, 2024
International Literature Festival Berlin:
Location: Berlin, Germany.
Based in Germany’s capital, the International Literature Festival Berlin (or ilb) was founded in 2021. According to the website, “its comprehensive stylistic and thematic spectrum is unique - encompassing prose, poetry, non-fiction, graphic novels as well as children’s and young adult literature.” Events range in categories from Literatures of the World to specials that change every year. Sabaa Tahir, Yavuz Ekinci, and Francis Fukuyama. ilb also has a Hall of Fame featuring guests like Isabel Allende, John Green, Mario Vargas Llosa, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
Date: September 6-16, 2023
Please be aware that this post was written by a real human person, with recommendations from ChatGPT. This use of ChatGPT is not meant to replace human writing here on this website; the purpose of using ChatGPT was only as an assistant in brainstorming which festivals to include in the article.