Edinburgh International Book Festival

The Edinburgh International Book Festival (EIBF) brings leading and emerging international, British and Scottish authors and thinkers together to inspire each other and audiences in an extensive programme of public events each August. It aims to expand participation in democratic discussion, foster a love of reading and develop engaged, knowledgeable audiences of all ages and backgrounds.

EIBF delivers an extensive schools' and children's programme for young audiences, and following an award from players of People's Postcode Lottery, has expanded its activities to deliver a wide-ranging community programme, taking the Book Festival on the road around the country to inspire and entertain people in many different communities, including Scottish prisons.

Until 2020, the Book Festival took place in a specially built tented Festival Village in Charlotte Square Gardens, in the heart of Edinburgh. With the global pandemic, the world changed. As a small, agile festival operation, EIBF responded swiftly to the changing environment by staging a fully digital Book Festival in August 2020. The new digital format was enthusiastically received, and many thousands of people tuned in and chatted with each other from countries across the world.

Building on the success of 2020's fully online Festival, 2021 opened up a new chapter: a new central location at the Edinburgh College of Art. The range of distinctive indoor spaces and the grassy outdoor courtyard offer the Book Festival the facilities to build broadcasting studios for digital events and a range of flexible spaces for audiences to enjoy live and screened events in-person.

For more information, visit the website www.edbookfest.co.uk.