BookCity Milano 2026: Authors, Dates and How Entry Works (November 23-29)

From Monday, November 23, to Sunday, November 29, 2026, BookCity Milano turns the whole city into a book festival: author talks, readings, walks and parties in theaters, museums, libraries, bookstores and even the Castello Sforzesco. This is the festival’s 15th edition, with 1,360 events in 443 venues.

Big names this year include two-time Pulitzer winner Colson Whitehead, Booker Prize winner Samantha Harvey, Daniel Pennac, Fernando Aramburu and astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti. Here’s how admission works and which events to plan around.

BookCity Milano 2026 at a glance

• Dates: November 23-29, 2026
• Edition: 15th
• Theme: Il senno sulla Luna (“Wits on the Moon”), from the episode of Ariosto’s Orlando Furioso in which Astolfo flies to the Moon to recover Orlando’s lost wits
• Size: 1,360 events, 443 venues across every district of Milan, plus events in Como, Cremona, Lodi, Monza, Pavia, Sondrio and Varese
• Opening: Monday, November 23, 8 p.m., Teatro Dal Verme
• Closing: Sunday, November 29, 8 p.m., Teatro Franco Parenti
• Full program: bookcitymilano.it

New venues this year include Villa Necchi Campiglio, the 1930s villa run by FAI, and the historic archive of the old Ospedale Maggiore (Ca’ Granda), which opens its crypt for one of the talks.

Is BookCity free?

On November 1, 2026, we checked the official pages of the events listed in this guide. None of them shows a ticket price. Two require booking on Eventbrite, and on Eventbrite both are listed as free.

The festival’s website says its events are free and open to everyone until seats run out, unless the event page shows a booking link. Booking for some events opens only a few days before: for the Monumentale cemetery tour, for example, it opens on Tuesday, November 17.

Our advice: open the page of each event a few days before you go. If there is a Prenota (Book) button, reserve your seat. If not, arrive early for the big names, because seating is first come, first served.

Opening and closing nights

Opening night: Colson Whitehead (Monday, November 23, 8 p.m., Teatro Dal Verme, Via San Giovanni sul Muro 2). The American author, winner of the Pulitzer Prize in 2016 and 2019, talks with Francesco Costa, editor of Il Post. Mayor Giuseppe Sala will award him the Sigillo della Città, the city’s seal. His new novel, the last book of his Harlem trilogy, came out in Italian in October as Freddo come una macchina.

Closing night: Samantha Harvey and Paolo Giordano (Sunday, November 29, 8 p.m., Teatro Franco Parenti, Via Pier Lombardo 14). The British author of Orbital, winner of the 2024 Booker Prize, appears in Italy for the first time, in a conversation on science and literature with the Italian physicist and novelist.

International authors worth planning around

Highlights from the official program:

• Daniel Pennac, Tuesday, November 24, 6:30 p.m., Fondazione Culturale San Fedele, Via Hoepli 3/b
• Arturo Pérez-Reverte, Wednesday, November 25, 4 p.m., Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore
• Samantha Cristoforetti, the ESA astronaut, on the Moon with astrophysicist Stefano Sandrelli, Wednesday, November 25, 8 p.m., Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci
• Fernando Aramburu, Saturday, November 28, 6 p.m., Sala Viscontea, Castello Sforzesco
• French authors from Lyon, Saturday, November 28, Sala Weil Weiss, Castello Sforzesco: Emmanuelle Bayamack-Tam at 4 p.m., Ève Guerra at 5 p.m. and Jean Echenoz at 6 p.m.
• Zerocalcare, the celebrated Italian cartoonist, Sunday, November 29, noon, Piccolo Teatro Strehler
• Sheila Heti, Sunday, November 29, 4:30 p.m., Agorà, Triennale Milano

Literary walks and weekend events

• In Milan with Franz Kafka: a literary walk following Kafka’s 1911 visit to Milan with Max Brod. Wednesday, November 25, 3 p.m., and Saturday, November 28, 11 a.m. Meeting point for the November 28 walk: Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II.
• Cimitero Monumentale tour with writer Rosa Matteucci, among some unusual funerary monuments: Saturday, November 28, at 10:30 a.m. and 2:50 p.m. Free, booking on Eventbrite required, from November 17.
• BFF, Books Friends Forever, at BASE Milano, Saturday, November 28, and Sunday, November 29: book clubs, reading parties and signings for young readers. Free, with booking for each session.

Good to know before you go

• Language: the program is in Italian, and the event pages don’t say whether talks by foreign authors will be interpreted.
• Venues are spread out across the city: check the address on each event page.
• Where to stay: many of the main venues are in the center, between the Duomo, Brera and the Castello. Compare hotels in Milan for November 23-29.
• Times and venues can change: check the official program before you go.

BookCity is one of Milan’s late fall highlights. For more dates, see our Milan events calendar and our list of top annual events in Milan.