Visiting Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2026
Reading Time: 8 minutesA week has passed since I’ve returned from Italy, after visiting the 63rd edition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair, and I thought I’d write a little post about it. My first ever blog post. Yay! 🥳
I’ve known about the fair for a long time, even before working in publishing. But I never actually thought about going there myself. I’d attended some of the virtual talks during the pandemic, out of curiosity. And I’d read about other illustrator’s experiences at the fair. And then, last summer, out of the blue, I started thinking more seriously about it, and, on a whim, I booked a place and bought the plane tickets.
Because I was busy with work, I didn’t have a lot of time to prepare for the fair, so I went there with no expectations. From the beginning I knew I didn’t want to attend any portfolio reviews (my portfolio is not in great shape) and I didn’t have time to do research about the publishing houses or agencies that were attending. So, I printed some new business cards and postcards (I’d read that there are some designated spots where you can leave these), got some stickers and also some small posters for the illustrator wall, and that was that. I also managed to design and activate my website (which I’d been postponing for a while; mind you, I bought the theme and domain name about 5 years ago 🥲).
I arrived in Bologna on Monday, April 13 ✈️, and I spent this day wandering the city (well, it was more of a half day). I’ve been to Bologna a few times before, so I already knew my way around the city. I visited some of my favorite spots, ate some pizza and gelato, and called it a day.
I attended the fair for only 2 of the 4 days, on the 14th and 15th. This year the Bologna Children’s Book Fair took place between 13-16 April.
During the first day I was quite overwhelmed with the size of the fair and the amount of people there, and I mostly walked around, looked at all the stalls, and collected postcards (I was also recovering from a very bad cold, and I was a bit dizzy). I found the illustrator’s wall, which was larger than I’d imagined, and pinned some of my posters there. I also left some business cards and postcards. Seeing so many posters pasted on the wall felt a bit overwhelming. But it also felt great to see so many wonderful illustrations all together, in one place.
I visited the main exhibitions and managed to attend two of the talks – I’d made a list beforehand with the talks and master classes I wanted to go to, because a lot of the events overlap; however, I couldn’t stick to the whole schedule, because I kept getting distracted by stuff (books, coffee, getting lost a few times, etc). The talks I managed to sit through were: Control, Compensation & Creative Rights in the Age of AI, Integrating Print and Digital Content for Editorial Competitiveness and The Artist as Entrepreneur.
I also bought a few books and had a talk with and author and her publisher – they’d contacted me trough Instagram, via the QR code on my business card which they’d found at the Illustrator’s Wall. In the evening I went to see Victoria Semykina’s exhibition ,“The 400 Sketches” held at La Quadreria, by the publisher Kite Edizioni.
On the second day at the fair, I’d gotten a bit more familiar with the halls and I managed my time a bit better. On the first day, a lady came up to me asking for the exit, and I couldn’t help her. I offered to give her my map, but she said she already had one herself but she still couldn’t find her way. On the second day, the exact same thing happened to me, but this time I could help out and give directions for the exit. I was quite proud of myself 😂. Then I went searching for a few more books to buy, and I attended two talks: Visual Journeys: Artists Residencies for Illustrators and From Page to Screen: How the Rights Chain Really Works.
I visited the Illustrator’s wall a couple of times throughout the day to place some more postcards and business cards around there, and took some time to go around and leave my cards with the publishers that had boxes for collecting them (there weren’t that many though). Then I left the fair and wondered through the city a bit more.
I left the fair feeling a bit overwhelmed but inspired and motivated to work on new projects. I’ve been going through a very bad burnout for a while now, and I think I’m starting to recover. And going to the fair has definitely helped. Seeing so many cool projects and illustrations everywhere really raised my dopamine levels ✨.
My favorite stand at the fair was from Poland. They had apples, and plums in chocolate and some pretty cool books. They also had a live drawing session and really cool postcards.
My favorite exhibition was for the silent book contest entries.
Extra info & tips 🤓
🚶♀️ Getting there
If you want to go to the fair, I think it’s best to look for accommodation starting in September (the fair is usually held in spring – the dates for the 64rd edition are 5 – 8 April 2027), or maybe even a bit earlier.
Depending on where you’re staying, you can get to the fair by foot, bike, bus or car. I made the mistake of taking the bus on the first day. It was veeeeery crowded and traffic was pretty bad (there are some construction sites in the area). I got at the fair an hour later than planned. Also, if you leave the fair at closing time (18:00), the busses get crowded again. The next day I went there by foot and it was much better. There were also a lot of people riding bikes.
Opening hours
Monday-Wednesday 9:00 am – 6:30 pm | Thursday 9:00 am – 3:00 pm
🎫 Access tickets
For this edition, the standard tickets prices were:
- One-day admission: € 50.00 (discounted price until 15/02/2026) and from 16/02/2026: € 58.00
- Four-day pass: € 106.00 (discounted price until 15/02/2026) and from 16/02/2026: € 130.00
- One-day ticket for Thursday, 16 April (the last day of the fair – this is also a short day): € 25.00 (on sale from 2:00 pm on 15 April 2026)
Reduced tickets for illustrators and translators*
- 1-day reduced ticket: € 25.00
• 2-day reduced ticket: € 50.00
• 4-day reduced pass: € 64.00
*The reduced tickets can be purchased using a personal code (you can use only once) which you can request by filling in a form available on the fair’s official website.
Complimentary tickets – Illustrators shortlisted and selected as winners for the Illustrators Exhibition are entitled to a complimentary entrance ticket.
📚 At the fair
Plan your time (check the online event schedule, and maybe the event map, to see where the publishers/agents have their stands), but don’t make a very tight schedule, because it’s hard to stick to.
Wear comfy shoes and clothes, you’ll walk around a LOT.
I think it’s useful to bring a small backpack or tote bag with you so you can carry your printed materials and any books you may buy + postcards and other things you pick up at the fair.
I hand no idea what to actually print. So I decided on 100 business cards, 80 postcards and 4 A5 mini posters for the Illustrator’s Wall ( yup…4). I also brought some stickers with me (printed for a different occasion), scotch tape, scissors and pins.
In the end I was left with 6 postcards and about 20 business cards (I held on to these just in case I would need them in the future). I think I should have printed more (postcards and business cards) – the moment I put them down, they would disappear. But I’m not sure what a good number would have been; one illustrator said that 300 postcards should do, and they might be right. Also I definitely should have printed more posters, so that I could have placed them in more spots on the wall.
What I’ve noticed is that the larger posters would fall (they were probably a bit too heavy to be stuck to the wall), and the smaller prints stayed in place (I only had 4, and I have no idea if they stayed in place, because I’d forgotten where I placed them and couldn’t check). The actual wall is coated with a material that makes it a bit hard to stick stuff to (that’s why some people use pins). Also, a lot of illustrators had little boxes for business cards, and those looked pretty cool and seemed to stay in place. Some got super creative and made really fancy holders that stood out.
If you’re making printed materials for the fair, use qr codes for links to social media, websites or link pages where people can find you easily and reach out. Also, if you’re printing postcards, book signs, business cards etc, use the regular formats, that are easy to carry around. Larger prints or unusual formats may stand out more. But they are harder to carry around, and people might not want to pick them up.
Bring a sandwich / snacks with you and maybe some water. There were quite a few food stalls there, and the food looked tasty, but during lunch hours the queues were very long. There were also very long queues at the bathroom. So… brace yourselves.
The portfolios review queues were pretty long. I don’t know if this applies to all reviews, but a lot of them were reservation based; also, in some instances, if new spots were available, the announcements were made via social media. So, if you want to have your portfolio reviewed at the fair, you should check the online schedule beforehand and make an appointment, but also check social media for any new info from the artists or publishers you’re interested in. Illustrators brought digital portfolios (on their tablets) but also printed portfolios and dummy books.
🍕 Bologna
Take some time to explore the city. Bologna is pretty cool and has very tasty food. And usually there are all sorts of interesting events going on in the city.
If you decide to stay a bit longer, you can also visit some places near by, like Parma, Faenza (here they have an amazing ceramics museum – MIC Faenza). Maybe even Florence or Venice (the trains in Italy are pretty fast and Bologna has very well connected train station; there are also bus services like FlixBus or Appennino Shuttle).
Also, don’t forget to eat gelato and have fun! 🍨