Festival du Livre de Paris · 2027

Agoris analysis · updated June 2026

Key takeaways

• 6th edition of the Festival du Livre de Paris (format relaunched in 2022), from Friday 16 to Sunday 18 April 2027 at the Grand Palais. Guest country of honour 2027: a European country, whose name has not yet been revealed to date.
• Organiser: Paris Livres Événements, a wholly owned (100%) subsidiary of the Syndicat National de l'Édition (SNE) since 2022. President Vincent Montagne, director Pierre-Yves Bérenguer (positions in 2026: to be confirmed for 2027 on sne.fr).
• The festival approaches its 2027 edition on a strong trajectory: the 5th edition (17-19 April 2026) set a post-relaunch record with 121,000 visitors (+6% vs 2025), 1,800 authors, 3,000 signing sessions and 12 stages, with a very young attendance (around 50% under the age of 25).
• Venue unchanged: a return to the renovated Grand Palais, already used in 2025 and 2026.
• Public ticket prices and the 2027 timetable have not yet been published to date: the box office usually opens in early March. The festival has confirmed its very broad access policy, in particular targeted free admission for under-25s during the pre-sale period.

Who exhibits

Typical profile

The Festival du Livre de Paris is a paid, general-interest literary trade show for the wider public, organised by and for the French publishing sector. It brings together the leading French publishing groups, independent publishers, partner booksellers and an author programme that makes it the largest general-public literary gathering in France. The attendance is predominantly from the Île-de-France region and has become considerably younger since the 2022 relaunch under the Festival format: around 50% under the age of 25 in 2026. A family audience at the weekend, a dedicated school audience during certain slots, and a professional audience (booksellers, librarians, teachers, press) accredited free of charge on presentation of supporting documents.

Publishing houses present

At the heart of the show: the major French publishing groups.

• Madrigall (chaired by Antoine Gallimard): Gallimard, Gallimard Jeunesse, Flammarion, Casterman, Folio.
• Hachette Livre (Lagardère group, controlled by Vivendi/Bolloré since 2023).
• Albin Michel (co-owner of Le Livre de Poche).
• Editis, Actes Sud, Seuil, La Martinière, Glénat, Delcourt, Dupuis, Dargaud.

The detailed list of 2027 exhibitors is published as the festival approaches on festivaldulivredeparis.fr.

Quality of attendance

• Main target: reading general public from the Île-de-France region, young and student audiences, families, school groups.
• Professional publishing-sector audience (booksellers, librarians, press officers, cultural journalists) accredited free of charge.
• Strong presence of literary and broadcast media: RTL (long-standing partner of the Grand Prix), Lire Magazine littéraire, Livres Hebdo, ActuaLitté, Le Monde des Livres, France Télévisions (partner since 2023), France Inter, France Culture.

Activities and community

Grand Prix RTL-Lire

A programmatic cornerstone of the Festival, the Grand Prix RTL-Lire is one of the oldest general-public French literary prizes. Created in 1975 under the name "Prix RTL grand public" (first winner Joseph Joffo for "Anna et son orchestre"), it was renamed the Grand Prix RTL-Lire in 1992 when the partnership with Lire magazine began.

A distinctive feature of the jury: 100 readers selected by 20 partner booksellers, which makes it a readers' prize rather than a peers' prize.

Recent winners:

• 2025: Camille Laurens for "Ta promesse" (Gallimard), jury chaired by Philippe Labro.
• 2024: Claire Deya for "Un monde à refaire" (L'Observatoire).

The 2027 winner is revealed on site during the festival.

Prix Gotlib

Awarded each year on site, the Prix Gotlib honours a comic strip author, with prize money of €5,000. Winner 2026 (4th edition): Tom Gauld, the British author recognised for "La Physique pour les chats" (éditions 2042), the first non-French winner of the prize. The jury, prize money and timetable for the 2027 edition are announced by the organiser as the festival approaches.

Activities programme

Each year the Festival rolls out around a dozen themed stages (12 in 2026), with a packed programme of signing sessions and meet-and-greets:

• Several thousand signing sessions over three days (3,000 in 2026).
• More than 300 author meetings and round tables.
• A dedicated school programme, with 8,000 young people welcomed in 2026 during designated slots.
• A round table on the ecological challenges of the book ecosystem, led by the SNE.

The editorial theme, the European guest country and the list of 2027 stages are confirmed by the organiser as the festival approaches.

On site: what you need to know

Access, parking and accommodation: see the Grand Palais listing.

Specific to the show:

• Venue: Grand Palais (renovated nave), confirmed for the 2027 edition.
• Dates: Friday 16, Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 April 2027.
• Opening hours 2027: not yet published to date. In 2026, the festival opened from 9am to 8pm on the Saturday and 9am to 7pm on the Sunday.
• Box office: usually opens in early March, with an advantageous pre-sale closing around ten days before opening.
• Professional accreditations free of charge on application (booksellers, librarians, teachers, press).
• School audience: dedicated slots on application by the institution.

Visitor ticket prices

The 2027 price grid has not yet been published to date. The festival applies a very broad access policy, built around free admission for under-25s during the pre-sale period. By way of indication, the 2026 grid was based on a full price of €6 in pre-sale (€10 on site), free admission for under-25s in pre-sale and for under-12s, and free admission on presentation of supporting documents for jobseekers, people with reduced mobility (PRM) with a companion, librarians, booksellers and teachers. The final 2027 grid is confirmed when the box office opens.

How much it costs to exhibit

Exhibitor prices not published. Quote on request from Paris Livres Événements (a 100% SNE subsidiary). Placement and the price per m² depend on positioning relative to the stages, the stand area and membership of the SNE group. Publishers who are members of the Syndicat National de l'Édition benefit from negotiated terms through their affiliation.

Figures not publicly available to date.

Planning your visit

For the exhibitor

• 12 months out: make contact with Paris Livres Événements, validate registration via the SNE where applicable.
• 9 months out: submit the author and signing-session programme, apply for the themed stages.
• 6 months out: finalise the stand, signage brief, literary-press communications plan.
• 3 months out: team and author accreditations, signing schedules, press partnerships.
• 6 weeks out: social media campaign, autumn literary season press release, coordination with partner booksellers.

For the visitor

• Buy your ticket in pre-sale as soon as the box office opens: immediate saving vs the on-site price, and free admission for under-25s.
• Choose your day: Saturday is traditionally the busiest day for signing sessions and prize ceremonies. Sunday is more family-oriented.
• School audience: go through your institution to access the dedicated slots.
• Access: public transport strongly recommended (Grand Palais, Champs-Élysées-Clemenceau and Franklin D. Roosevelt stations).

CSR policy and initiatives

The Festival du Livre de Paris frames its CSR agenda within the SNE's policy, the organiser via Paris Livres Événements:

• Round table on the ecological challenges of the book ecosystem, led by the SNE, scheduled as a recurring item on the festival agenda.
• Eco-design of the show: reuse of staging and set materials from one edition to the next.
• PRM accessibility: adapted route, free companion.
• Targeted free admission: under-25s in pre-sale, jobseekers, school groups, librarians, booksellers, teachers. A reader-democratisation policy embraced as a CSR pillar.
• School programme: several thousand young people welcomed during dedicated slots (8,000 in 2026), a structuring initiative for access to books.

No ISO 20121 certification specific to the show is mentioned to date.

How the show has evolved

Trajectory analysis

The Paris book event has lived through three major eras. 1981-1993 at the Grand Palais as the original Salon du Livre. 1994-2020 at the Porte de Versailles, a professional and general-public trade show format. Covid cancellations in 2020 and 2021, then a complete overhaul in 2022 under the name Festival du Livre de Paris at the Grand Palais Éphémère, under the exclusive stewardship of the SNE via its subsidiary Paris Livres Événements (before 2022, the show was co-managed with Reed Expositions France). Successive guest countries: India 2022, Italy 2023, Québec 2024, Morocco 2025.

The 2026 edition (5th ed.) marked a post-relaunch record of 121,000 visitors (+6% vs 2025), 1,800 authors and 12 stages, with the comic strip (Bande Dessinée) as guest of honour (echoing the cancellation of the 2026 Angoulême Festival) and a confirmed young attendance (around 50% under the age of 25). This momentum embeds the format for the long term and makes the 2027 edition (6th ed., 16-18 April, Grand Palais) a much-anticipated event, with a European country as guest of honour whose name has not yet been revealed. The multi-year programming beyond 2027 has not been officially communicated to date.

Unless otherwise stated, all factual data in this listing comes from the organiser's official website (festivaldulivredeparis.fr).