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 a lineup topping 500 authors and celebrities. (latimes.com) The festival’s main site says visitors can choose from nearly 100 panel conversations, while the broader weekend program includes more than 200 author events. The Times also says the event draws about 150,000 attendees on the University of Southern California campus. (latimes.com) Headliners promoted by organizers include Sarah Jessica Parker on April 18, Larry David on April 19 and Lionel Richie on April 19. A separate public ticket page lists Amy Tan, Stacey Abrams and other marquee names across politics, music, fiction and memoir. (latimes.com) (goweho.com) The 2026 event is the festival’s 31st annual edition, and Discover Los Angeles says it will bring more than 550 writers, experts and storytellers to campus. That listing also says the weekend will use eight outdoor stages and 13 indoor panel rooms. (discoverlosangeles.com) Organizers are also adding a new Audiobook and Podcast Stage this year, alongside page-to-screen previews, live music and more than 350 exhibitors. The University of Southern California festival site separately highlights school-run panels, music programming and family activities around the main Times events. (discoverlosangeles.com) (festivalofbooks.usc.edu) (sites.usc.edu) One of the clearest examples of the festival’s public-facing mix is the De Los Stage, which returns for its third year in association with L.A. Times en Español. Preview coverage says it will host Julio Vaqueiro, Quiara Alegría Hudes, Gloria Calderón Kellett and other writers and performers across both days. (yahoo.com) The De Los program also starts both mornings with children’s readings from the Los Angeles Public Library and Lil’ Libros, according to that preview. Other sessions will range from Latina motherhood in fiction to Bad Bunny’s cultural impact and conversations about United States-Mexico politics. (yahoo.com) Free entry does not mean every event is walk-up. The Times says indoor panels and special events require reservations or tickets, and the public ticketing page shows paid conversations and add-ons such as valet parking. (latimes.com) (tixr.com) The weekend begins one night earlier with the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes ceremony at 7 p.m. on Friday, April 17, at Bovard Auditorium. That event will honor 2025 Robert Kirsch Award winner Amy Tan and 2025 Innovator’s Award winner We Need Diverse Books. (latimes.com) For Los Angeles readers, the draw is the same as ever: one campus, two days, and a literary program broad enough to put novelists, journalists, musicians, actors and children’s authors on the same schedule. This year’s version adds a new stage, a larger celebrity push and another De Los slate aimed at bilingual and Latino audiences. (latimes.com) (discoverlosangeles.com) (yahoo.com)