Why Events like The LA Times Festival of Books Are Important
Last weekend, I attended the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books. I’ve been several times over the years, but it’s been a while since my last visit. Though I planned to attend last year, a family emergency kept me away. So this year, I was extra excited about going and was also incredibly anxious until the moment I arrived, convinced something else would happen again that would keep me away.
For those who aren’t aware, the Festival of Books began in 1996 as a free public event that celebrates all things reading, books and the written word. It’s the largest book festival in the US (as of 2025 anyway). The festival was held on the UCLA campus until 2010 and since 2011 has been held at USC. I remember volunteering once way back in the UCLA days, and while it was fun, I definitely looked forward to returning as an attendee.
If you’ve been before or it’s on your book loving bucket list, I don’t have to sell you on the event. But if you’re just learning about it due to the increasing social media chatter, or you’ve known about it, but have been on the fence about going, here are a few reasons why I think you should consider attending next year (plan ahead :-) )
It’s free. So if you don’t have a big budget or don’t want to spend money on an event you’re uncertain about - the FOB is a great place to go. I ran into a new book loving friend at the event and she said it perfectly - it feels like a local community event. Yes, even though it is HUGE and gets VERY crowded during peak hours, it still feels incredibly down to earth and accessible. If you don’t want to spend a dime or give up your email address, you can saunter right onto the USC campus and wander to your heart’s content. You can browse the booths, listen to talks at the outdoor stages and participate in various activities that are happening. And then you just wander right back out. I saw various groups of teens wandering around throughout the event. Some were clearly there for the event, but as for others, I really couldn’t even tell. All they had in had were hot Cheetos and skateboards. For me, I think that’s great. They may have just been in the neighborhood - their neighborhood - and wanted to see what was going on. Free community events don’t happen enough in general. And as a book lover, I absolutely love the idea that someone might wander onto the campus and end up being exposed to something new that gets them excited about reading.
It’s well curated. I had never heard of New Yorks’ BookCon until this year. While many of us were on Threads and Instagram sharing out delight about the FOB (parking struggles aside), reviews on 2026 BookCon were much more mixed. The issue I saw the most was that it really wasn’t that diverse - it felt more like “romancecon.” This would have been a drag for me personally. Romance isn’t my genre. Here in Los Angeles, aside from author talks, the vast majority of the book events I come across, especially the ones targeted to women, are romance focused. So, due to that (coupled with distance), I skip most of them. You won’t have that issue at the Festival of Books, I promise you. If there’s a genre you like, it’s there - whether it’s at a talk or among the booths. From romance (spicy, dark, cozy), to fantasy, sci-fi, sports, horror, music, true crime, crime fiction, thrillers and mysteries, children’s books, music, journalism, poetry - it was all there. The biggest issue is that so many things are happening at the same time, it’s hard to choose!
It’s well curated in other ways too.
In addition to ticketed author events happening indoors (which you can still get in the standby line for at no cost), plenty of main stage talks and panels happened for free and in the open. There were more booths you could visit than I’d seen before. I ended up skipping one of my booked panels because I was enjoying myself so much at the booths. There were a few activities for adults, and several for kids that I spotted. A local classical music radio station was actually one of my favorite booths to visit - I picked up a free copy of a kids book about Ella Fitzgerald and Marilyn Monroe’s friendship that I plan to give to a friend for their little one. They also had an instrument demo area and a (covered!) area where you could pop on headphones and chill out to some classical music.
Authors big and small were there - big names like Lisa Rinna, David Duchovny, Tina Knowles, Susan Lucci, Pat Benatar, Lionel Ritchie and Blair Underwood were there. Mychal Threets appeared in the children’s area (to a huge adoring crowd, by the way). Sarah Jessica Parker introduced the author of the latest book her publishing company has put out into the world. Tons of indie authors had booths mixed in and it was wonderful to scroll social media that many of them had an amount of sales they really weren’t expecting.
There was a big multicultural area and large bilingual (Spanish/English) representation among booths and authors.
It’s a great way to learn about what’s going on in the community. In addition to the authors in attendance, local independent bookstores had booths. Makers and creators were selling their wares. Local radio stations were there e- in addition to the classical station I mentioned, KCRW also had a presence. Colleges and universities had booths, writers programs were there, LA Metro had a booth. I picked up info on the high speed rail system that I have ANXIOUSLY been awaiting here in California. And so much more. It’s been a couple days so my brain can’t even remember all the stuff I took in.
You can do so much in less time - if you’re like me and have a big bookish to do list, an event like this feels like a godsend - while I still recommend visiting your local bookstore, there are so many here in Southern California that I can’t make it to a and a lot of them are at the festival. Not every author I want to see comes to LA or even does a book tour. So the amount of them I can see in one place over two days is my main motivation for going. There are also author signings, but there’s always so many things I want to do that I never spend my time there standing in line to get a signature (I totally will at a solo book talk though). And there were tons of publications that I learned about that I’ve never even seen. Their booths gave me exposure to new ideas and content that I may not have found for a while (if ever). And of course, if you love merch (both paid and free), there’s plenty to buy and lots of people giving stuff away.
You can curate your own experience. As mentioned, the event is free, but they do offer paid passes. I bought the lower tier, which was under $100. It includes a 4 month subscription to the paper, some merch (realizing now, I forgot to claim my poster…) and a generous helping of panel tickets (20!) with access to book your sessions before the general public. With my age and temperament, it was an easy sell. I didn’t want to stand in line hoping I’d get into the talks I wanted, especially because the talks were my main reason for attending). I used 10 tickets, gave away four and had six left that I couldn’t get rid of! I went to most of events I booked and squeezed in booth time when I could. I didn’t even eat while I was there! The two people I gave tickets to? They only attended one day and only went to one or two panels each. They both wanted to explore booths and meet people. And they did. That’s one of the best things - you can curate exactly the day you want to have.
Okay okay, I’m done selling you. I do still want tell you about what I personally loved and experience though! So hop over to my FOB highlights post.