Brooklyn Book Festival: Festival Day

About this event

Festival Day is the flagship free day of the Brooklyn Book Festival, and in 2026 it lands on Sunday, September 27 from 10 AM to 6 PM across Downtown Brooklyn. Eight indoor and outdoor stages at Brooklyn Borough Hall, Brooklyn Law School, the Center for Brooklyn History, St. Ann & the Holy Trinity Church, Columbus Park and Korean War Veterans Plaza host back-to-back author conversations, with the Literary Marketplace's publisher and indie bookstore tents filling the plaza and parks in between. The announced 2026 lineup includes Marlon James, Joyce Carol Oates, Namwali Serpell, Douglas Stuart and Pulitzer Prize winners Colson Whitehead, Tracy K. Smith, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Cristina Rivera Garza and Julia Angwin, plus dozens of emerging writers. Every Festival Day program and the Marketplace are free with no ticket required, though headline panels fill early — get to a stage well before a session you care about. Children's Day runs the day before, Saturday, September 26, at Borough Hall and Plaza. Borough Hall is served by the 2/3/4/5 trains.