State guide
California
California’s verified book festivals in this guide are the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books and the Bay Area Book Festival. The Times page places its festival on the University of Southern California campus and says general admission is free, with some paid events. The headline and the body text on that page do not print the same April dates, so this guide does not choose between them. The Bay Area Book Festival’s site describes a 13th annual festival in downtown Berkeley on June 4–6, 2027, organized around the theme “Reconstruction,” plus year-round programs called the Merritt Dialogues and Affinity Lit Collectives. The California State Library in Sacramento is the state agency, separate from both festivals.
Checked against official sources on October 11, 2026. Rules and links change; confirm with the office listed before you act.
- State library or arts office
- California State Library
- Festivals we verified
- Los Angeles Times Festival of Books; Bay Area Book Festival
- Official program page
- Official page →
The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books page invites volunteers, exhibitors, and authors or storytellers, and it points partners toward 2027 conversations. It says more than 300 exhibitors help build the festival. Because the page is a news organization’s event site, the practical details can move. Readers should reopen www.latimes.com/events/festival-of-books before traveling, especially if a headline date and a paragraph date do not match. Nothing in this guide adds a crowd estimate the Times page did not clearly state in the text that was saved.
The Bay Area Book Festival describes a mission to support literary voices, with particular attention to people who have been excluded, and to encourage reading and critical thinking across ages. Applications for speakers and exhibitors were open on the page that was fetched. The festival also describes quarterly Merritt Dialogues in Oakland, started in 2025, and three affinity groups launched in June 2025: Women Lit, LGBTQIA+ Lit, and Mixed Race Lit. Those are literary programs around the festival, not separate statewide fairs.
The California State Library’s site documents a different kind of public work. It announced a free Sacramento Archives Crawl on October 17 linking the State Archives, the State Library, the Center for Sacramento History, and the Sacramento Room at Sacramento Public Library, with a bus between sites. It also posts subject guides on California government and history. That crawl is an archives open house, not a book festival. Use the State Library for research and library programs, and use the two festival sites for author weekends.
Official resources in California
Official Times page for the festival on the USC campus, with free general admission and some paid events.
Official site for the Berkeley festival and related dialogue and collective programs.
State library in Sacramento, including the Sacramento Archives Crawl announcement and research guides.
Key facts for California
- The Los Angeles Times festival page says the Festival of Books is on the USC campus and that general admission is free, with exclusive paid events.
- That page says more than 300 exhibitors take part and invites volunteers and author participants.
- The Bay Area Book Festival site describes the 13th annual festival as June 4–6, 2027, in downtown Berkeley.
- The Bay Area site names the theme “Reconstruction” and programs called Merritt Dialogues and Affinity Lit Collectives.
- The California State Library announced a free Sacramento Archives Crawl among four downtown history institutions.
- The State Library page is about library and archives services, not the author lineup of either festival.
Verified festivals and programs in California
| Festival | city | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Times Festival of Books | Los Angeles | Times festival page places the event on the USC campus and says general admission is free, with some paid programs. |
| Bay Area Book Festival | Berkeley | Official site describes a downtown Berkeley festival on June 4–6, 2027, plus Merritt Dialogues and affinity collectives. |
* Not published: the official page doesn't list it. Call the office to confirm before you rely on it.
What to do next
- Reopen the Times festival page before you go, and notice if the headline date and the article date differ.
- Plan Berkeley and Los Angeles as separate trips; these festivals are not the same weekend.
- Use the Bay Area site for speaker and exhibitor applications rather than a forwarded email.
- Use the State Library crawl page only if you want the Sacramento archives event, not a book signing.
Not seeing your festival or county?
We list a festival only when an official government page publishes its rules. If yours isn't in the table above, it may not publish them online yet. Here's what to use instead, in order:
- General Start with the statewide information above. It applies across California, but cities and counties can add their own steps, fees or deadlines.
- Closest verified Nearest places where we have verified local data outside this state (distance from California's population center, for comparison only):
- Las Vegas Book Festival, Nevada · about 225 miles
- Tucson Festival of Books, Arizona · about 532 miles
- Utah Humanities Book Festival, Utah · about 534 miles
- Call to confirm Ask the official office. They have the current local rule, fee and form.California State Library
Website →Phone not shown: use the contact page on the official website above.Your city or county office: Local governments →Not sure who handles it locally? USAGov's free help line, 1-844-872-4681, or the California page on USA.gov can point you to the right office. - Know the current info? Tell us and include a link to the official page. We check every tip before it goes up.
Helpful guides
- How to use a state book festival guide
- What a book festival typically includes
- The National Book Festival
- Finding author events at the state library