Var Book Festival 2026

Every year, the Département du Var invites readers, authors and booksellers to come together at the Fête du Livre du Var, for 3 days of meetings, signings and debates. Novels, children's books, comics, essays, art books, thrillers...

For its 29th edition, the Var Book Festival returns to the Palais Neptune with the same goals as always: to bring literature to life in all its forms and for all audiences (adults, teens, and children) over the course of three days; to provide opportunities to meet authors during panel discussions, in-depth interviews, and book-signing sessions; to participate in writing and drawing workshops; and to attend illustrated or musical readings...

As in previous years, dozens of booths run by booksellers from the Var region will host more than 350 novelists (general fiction, crime fiction, and other genres), as well as authors of comic books and children’s literature.

This year’s honorary president is Sylvain Tesson, a travel writer whose work transforms adventure into a way of experiencing the world.
An honorary frigate captain, he has been a member of the Association of Naval Writers since 2012. The author of *Dans les forêts de Sibérie* (2011 Médicis Prize for Essays) and *La Panthère des neiges* (2019 Renaudot Prize) will be presenting *Stack, la traversée des mondes* (Albin Michel), a beautiful book born from his “Pillars of the Sea” adventure: a previously unpublished text, illustrated with his travel journals and more than 350 photographs by Thomas Goisque (official painter of the French Navy since 2006), who accompanied him as he tackled these rocky pillars rising off the coasts of the world.

Sylvain Tesson will be joined by four guests of honor with exceptional backgrounds:
> Annick Cojean, journalist and international correspondent
> Richard Malka, attorney and writer
> Christophe Ono-Dit-Biot, journalist and novelist
> Norbert Tafzi, former commander of the Trépel commando unit.

This year, the Var Book Festival also pays tribute to André Malraux, one of the great intellectual and political figures of the 20th century. By turns a writer, adventurer,
Resistance fighter, art theorist, and statesman, he led an extraordinary life.

Numerous events are offered each day: discussions, interviews, workshops...
The full program and list of participating authors can be found at https://fetedulivreduvar.fr/