Virginia Festival of the Book

We love books.

We also love the people who make books, from writers and illustrators to agents and publishers.

Each year, more than 20,000 people attend the Virginia Festival of the Book to share in this love.

A program of Virginia Humanities, the Festival brings together writers and readers to promote and celebrate books, reading, literacy, and literary culture over five days in Charlottesville and Albemarle County every March.

Since the very first Festival in 1995, we have presented a captivating list of speakers, from international bestsellers to topical specialists to debut authors.

But don’t take our word for it! Explore our Festival archive and you’ll see more than a few familiar names, including Baldacci, Grisham, Karon, Lowry, Shetterly, Stiglitz, and many others.

Highlighting hundreds of speakers and their books, each Festival typically includes approximately 200 programs—from panel discussions to children’s storytime—for all ages, reading levels, and interests.

The majority of our programs are free to attend. Completely free. For most programs, you don’t need to buy a ticket or a book—you don’t even have to read a book to take part. All you need is your curiosity.