LA Times Festival this weekend

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returns to the University of Southern California on April 18 and 19, with free general admission and paid reservations for many indoor panels. (latimes.com) The 31st annual festival says it will bring more than 500 authors and celebrities, more than 300 exhibitors and about 150,000 attendees to the campus over two days. (latimes.com) The schedule includes De Los Stage conversations with Julio Vaqueiro, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Carolina Ixta and Yesika Salgado, alongside higher-profile appearances by Amy Tan, Stacey Abrams, Lionel Richie, Larry David and Sarah Jessica Parker. (latimes.com) (foxla.com) (goweho.com) Festival entry is free, but the event site says attendees should reserve spots for nearly 100 panel conversations, and Tixr listings show many indoor events priced at $8.26, with some special conversations priced higher. (latimes.com) (tixr.com) The weekend starts before the gates open Saturday: the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony is set for Friday, April 17, and Amy Tan is this year’s Robert Kirsch Award winner. (latimes.com) (foxla.com) Organizers are also using the festival to expand beyond traditional author talks. The 2026 program adds an Audiobook and Podcast Stage presented by Spotify, plus outdoor stages, music, family activities and cooking demonstrations. (foxla.com) (sites.usc.edu) For visitors, the logistics are straightforward but not free. Festival parking at several University of Southern California structures costs $25, while prepaid valet parking listed through Tixr runs $66.06 per day. (sites.usc.edu) (tixr.com) Public transit is part of the pitch this year too: the festival directs riders to the Metro E Line stop at Expo Park and University of Southern California, and the Downtown Los Angeles DASH F shuttle runs every 20 minutes from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 50 cents. (sites.usc.edu) For Los Angeles readers, the event lands as a city-scale weekend built around books but stretched across politics, music, television, food and Spanish-language programming. By Friday night, the prizes begin; by Saturday morning, the campus turns into a full literary fair. (latimes.com) (sites.usc.edu)