Explore the Festival programme

The Edinburgh International Book Festival takes place from 15-30 August 2026. The programme will be available in June 2026. Sign up for our ebulletins or follow us on social media to hear announcements and updates.

In the meantime, you can enjoy watching nearly 150 events from the 2025 Festival on our website. 

2024 Book Festival Highlights

EIBF_2024-08-13_image by Mihaela Bodlovic (17)
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EIBF - Phographer- Aly Wight - Sat 10-08-24 - File-7139
RMD_8476 by Rob MacDougall
EIBF_2024-08-13_image by Mihaela Bodlovic (294)
EIBF_2024-08-13_image by Mihaela Bodlovic (95)

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Look, Listen & read

From Aotearoa to Alba: A Literary Exchange

From Aotearoa to Alba: A Literary Exchange

Scotland and New Zealand are separated by 11,113.48 miles. Yet in a cultural and literary sense, the distance isn't quite so great. Join us for a vibrant celebration of the poetic connections between the two nations, based on a shared love of performance and music…

David Mitchell with Sam Amidon: The Music of Utopia Avenue (2020 Event)
David Mitchell with Sam Amidon: The Music of Utopia Avenue (2020 Event)

While the Summer of Love is about to unfold across the Atlantic, life in 1967 isn’t so easy for a young would-be musician in London’s shabby Charing Cross Road. Yet from this…

Paul Mendez & Derek Owusu: Thorny Intersections (2020 Event)
Paul Mendez & Derek Owusu: Thorny Intersections (2020 Event)

How do you get the upper hand on a world you don’t yet understand? That’s the burning question at the heart of two striking debuts that scrape away the coming-of-age clichés…

A Tale of Two Cities
A Tale of Two Cities by Yiyun Li

In a certain city in Florida, in the bars, there are young women sitting on high stools, and if an older man is interested in one of them, he asks the bartender to send over a cigar…