LA Times Festival lineup

The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books returns to the University of Southern California on April 18 and 19 with free general admission and more than 500 authors and celebrities on the program. (latimes.com) The Los Angeles Times says the 31st annual festival will bring nearly 100 panel conversations to the campus, alongside paid special events and indoor sessions that require tickets or reservations. The event page lists 150,000 attendees, 200-plus author events and more than 300 exhibitors. (latimes.com) The 2026 lineup includes Amy Tan, Larry David, Sarah Jessica Parker, Lionel Richie, Tina Knowles, Anne Lamott, Roxane Gay and Reza Aslan. The University of Southern California’s event calendar also lists Garcelle Beauvais, Valerie Bertinelli, Hayley Kiyoko, Lisa Rinna and Maggie Nelson among the guests. (latimes.com) (usc.edu) Several of the biggest names are tied to ticketed marquee conversations at Bovard Auditorium. The schedule includes Sarah Jessica Parker on April 18, plus Larry David and Lionel Richie on April 19, with public ticket listings posted through Tixr. (latimes.com) (tixr.com) The weekend starts a day earlier with the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony on Friday, April 17, at 7 p.m. at Bovard Auditorium. The Book Prizes page says Amy Tan is this year’s Robert Kirsch Award winner, an honor for a writer with a substantial connection to the American West. (latimes.com) The festival’s scale has made it a fixture in Los Angeles publishing and bookselling calendars, and the 2026 edition keeps the event on the University of Southern California campus where it has drawn large crowds for years. The Los Angeles Times calls it the biggest book festival in the country. (latimes.com) (usc.edu) This year’s program also adds newer formats and genres to the mix. Fox 11 reported that the festival is debuting an Audiobook and Podcast Stage presented by Spotify and expanding programming for romance and fantasy readers. (foxla.com) Host campus programming will run alongside the celebrity sessions. The University of Southern California calendar lists faculty and guest panels on health equity, food and immigration, climate change, Shakespeare, parenting, sports media and artificial intelligence, plus performances by the Trojan Marching Band and student and local acts. (usc.edu) For visitors, the split is simple: the grounds are open, but many indoor conversations now run on reservations. As of April 15, the Los Angeles Times festival page says general admission reservations are open and panel reservations are live ahead of the April 18 opening. (latimes.com)