The Feira do Livro do Porto’s programme is as vast as it is diverse. Ever since the Municipality took over its organisation, it has branched out into new formats, spotlit new voices, and bet definitively on a younger audience. In 2013, the Feira did not take place. When it came back, it was already much more than just a fair of books.
Firstly, it changed seasons to start taking place at the end of summer. It also changed venue, finding a home in the heart of the Palácio de Cristal Gardens. “If you have a garden in your library, you will want for nothing,” wrote Cicero in a letter to Marcus Terentius Varro in the 1st century BC.
The Feira as we knew it changed for good. It took on a hybrid form between book market and literary festival, combining, every year, over a hundred bookshops, publishers and second-hand book sellers with an eclectic cultural programme of topical discussions, informal gatherings, and meetings surrounding the written and spoken word.
Never disregarding the word as its motto and the book as its flag, the Feira recognises that the potential of literature is not exhausted in the pages between the front and back covers. Rather, it evolves and flows, fusing with other art forms, other universes, as well as every single aspect of human life. That's why every kind of creative expression is welcome, from spoken word to theatre, from music to dance, from visual arts to film.
The Feira do Livro do Porto is conceived for all audiences, of any age. It’s not the largest of its kind, but it is a popular and cosmopolitan fixture, evidenced by the 300.000 people who visit it every year to discover a new book, meet a friend, or relax and read in the shade of a lime tree.
