Festival des livres d'en haut
Lille's book fair at Gare Saint-Sauveur
2026
About Livres d'en haut
Livres d'en haut — edition 2026
The sixth edition of the Festival des livres d'en haut will take place on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, from 10 am to 7 pm at the Gare Saint-Sauveur in Lille, centered around the theme "Crossings" (Traversées). After a three-day event in 2025, the festival returns to a single-day format. Around fifty authors are expected for book signings, divided into three main areas: Youth, Comics & Manga, and Literature & Humanities. Twelve independent bookstores from the Hauts-de-France region are organizing the event and each will be hosting their own guest authors. Free admission.
Sixth edition — Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, theme: "Crossings"
The Festival des livres d'en haut returns on Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, at the Gare Saint-Sauveur, from 10 am to 7 pm. The venue extends to the neighboring Bazaar St-So. While the 2025 edition spanned three days with 128 authors and over 10,000 visitors, the 2026 edition will be a one-day event.
This year's theme is "Crossings". Books are categorized into three sections: Youth, Comics & Manga, and Literature & Humanities. Each participating bookstore invites its own authors, whose names have been announced in waves since June on the festival's website and social media. About fifty authors are confirmed so far, ranging from Teresa Valero and Pauline Harmange to Christian Léourier and Kris Di Giacomo.
The day's program includes book signings, panel discussions, drawing and writing workshops, read-aloud sessions, the "Foire aux histoires" for children and teenagers, a youth comic book exhibition with Éditions de la Gouttière, the MEL bibliomobile for outdoor reading, and dedicated reading corners. Twenty exhibitors will have stands, mostly regional publishers.
Admission and activities are free. Registration for workshops, panel discussions, and readings is recommended as space is limited. The detailed schedule is not yet online; in 2025, it was released in early September, coinciding with the opening of registrations.
Highlights Livres d'en haut 2026
- Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, from 10 am to 7 pm, Gare Saint-Sauveur in Lille
- Theme of the sixth edition: "Crossings"
- Around fifty authors signing books, invited by twelve independent bookstores
- Youth comic book exhibition with Éditions de la Gouttière
- Foire aux histoires, featuring about ten activities for children and teenagers
- MEL bibliomobile and reading corners
- Free admission and free activities, registration recommended
Programme Livres d'en haut 2026
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, from 10 am to 7 pm — Gare Saint-Sauveur, Lille
The sixth edition is a one-day event, compared to three days in 2025. The theme is "Crossings". The site is divided into three sections: Youth, Comics & Manga, and Literature & Humanities. Each organizing bookstore invites its own authors. The schedule for panel discussions, workshops, and readings has not yet been published by the organizer, nor have the specific signing times for each author.
Youth Section — announced authors
Guests of La Lison bookstore:
- Cécile Jugla — Cherche et trouve de 1900 à nos jours (Nathan)
- Jess Pauwels — Mes P'tits Mythes Grecs (Milan)
- Matthias Picard — JeanJambe (Éditions 2042)
- Stéphanie Rubini — Giuseppe Arcimboldo (Bayard Jeunesse)
- Cécile Cuny — Petites Poches Pleines (Albin Michel)
- Sophie Ledesma — Hector le magichien (La Martinière Jeunesse)
Guests of Le Bateau Livre bookstore:
- Chris Naylor-Ballesteros — Oscar et Albert (L'école des loisirs)
- Sylvain Diez — Le livre du loup (Frimousse)
- Kris Di Giacomo — Je ne suis pas une crotte (Frimousse)
- Chloé Lume — Tout ce que je ne sais pas (Sarbacane)
- Marianne Barcilon — Odette et son loup (L'école des loisirs)
- Agnès Mathieu-Daudé — Z Le Jeu de Ma Vie (L'école des loisirs)
Guest of the Association des éditions des Hauts-de-France:
- Sébastien Naert — L'album Volé (Le Téètras Magic)
Comics & Manga Section — announced authors
Guests of Combo bookstore (Roubaix):
- Frédéric Maupomé — La Quête (Le Lombard)
- Goum — La légende du Marsupilami (Dupuis)
- Aloïs — Eclepsis (Dargaud)
- François Duprat — La Danseuse Debout (Éditions de la Gouttière)
- Dominique Zay — Les enquêtes de Philippine Lomar (Éditions de la Gouttière)
Guests of AstroCity bookstore (Lille):
- Zaven Najjar — Allah n'est pas obligé (Dupuis)
- Teresa Valero — Contrapaso (Dupuis)
- Elsa Charretier — La fille au blouson léopard (Delcourt/Tonkam)
- Alberto Ponticelli — Blatta (Bliss Éditions)
- EPHK — Mawrth Vallis (404 éditions)
- Adrien Villesange — Spire (Les Humanoïdes Associés)
Guest of Manga No Yume bookstore (Lille):
- Kiri — Mon vœu le plus sincère (Kotoon)
In this section, a ticket system applies to signings: one book purchased entitles you to a ticket, which allows you to get the book of your choice signed.
Literature & Humanities Section — announced authors
Guests of La chouette librairie (Lille):
- Karine Sulpice — Méchante (Liana Levi)
- Polina Panassenko — À voix haute (Éditions de l'Olivier)
- Alizée Delpierre — Comme des esclaves (La Découverte)
- Alice Raybaud — Nos solitudes (La Découverte)
Guests of Le Biglemoi bookstore-café (Lille):
- Samira El Ayachi — Madame Bovary, ma mère et moi (Éditions de l'Aube)
- Pauline Harmange — BI·ES (Points)
- Chien Fou — Y'a toujours quelqu'un qui pleure (La Fourmi Éditions)
Guests of Les Lisières bookstores (Croix and Villeneuve-d'Ascq):
- Laurence Paoli — Le chant perdu des baleines (Actes Sud)
- Guillaume Aubin — Paysages voraces (La Contre Allée)
- Caroline Audibert — Les audionotes (Actes Sud)
- Justine Bo — Si tu traverses les eaux (Gallimard)
Guests of Au Temps Lire bookstore (Lambersart):
- Lucie Baratte — Le chien noir (Éditions du Typhon)
- Nicolò Moscatelli — L'enfant et les brigands (Éditions du Typhon)
Guests of Le Légendarium bookstore (Arras):
- Christian Léourier — De sel, d'écume et de vent (Argyll)
- Jonathan Brychcy — Fragments d'un dieu mourant (ActuSF)
Guests of Le Monde d'Uranie bookstore (Lille):
- Pola Von Grüt — L'Astrologie, jour après jour (Eyrolles)
- Jean-Louis Abrassart — Je m'inquiète trop (Guy Trédaniel)
- Lise Bartoli — Cartes de guérison énergétique (Guy Trédaniel)
Guests of La Forge bookstore (Marcq-en-Barœul):
- José Herbert — Ne pleure pas Jeanette (Nord Avril)
- Noémie Adenis — Le Pavillon des fièvres (Robert Laffont)
Guest of the Maison de la Poésie des Hauts-de-France:
- Sophie Selliez — Du merveilleux dans l'ordinaire (Éditions Glyphe)
Other authors announced for signings
Announced by the organizer without a specific section:
- Vinciane Moeschler — Guérilléra (Mercure de France)
- Stéphane Aucante — Palestine à hauteur d'hommes (Bougainvillier éditions)
- Alain Marrone — Le sixième cercueil (Bougainvillier éditions)
- Laura Tinard — Lady Diana, ma mère et moi (Seuil)
- Ursula Lenseele — Gravir la mer (Cours toujours)
- Frédéric Cornu — La ligne d'eau (Light Motiv)
- Johan Grzelczyk — Wuhan Radiography (Light Motiv)
Exhibitions and activities
- Youth comic book exhibition, with Éditions de la Gouttière
- Foire aux histoires: about ten activities focused on reading, illustration, and poetry for children and teenagers
- Drawing workshops, writing workshops, and read-aloud sessions
- Panel discussions and author meet-and-greets
- Reading hut and youth book signings
- MEL bibliomobile for outdoor reading
- Cozy zones with reading corners
Activities are free but space is limited: the organizer recommends registering on their website. There is no waiting list; if an event is full, try arriving at the reception desk before it starts, as spots often open up at the last minute.
Participating bookstores
- AstroCity (Lille) — comics
- Au Temps Lire (Lambersart)
- La chouette librairie (Lille)
- Combo (Roubaix) — comics, manga, and youth
- La Forge (Marcq-en-Barœul)
- La Lison (Lille)
- Le Bateau Livre (Lille, Wazemmes)
- Le Biglemoi (Lille, Fives)
- Le Légendarium (Arras) — speculative fiction
- Le Monde d'Uranie (Lille)
- Les Lisières (Croix and Villeneuve-d'Ascq)
- Manga No Yume (Lille)
- La Nouvelle Librairie VO, added later by the organizer
Announced exhibitors
- Association des éditions des Hauts-de-France
- Bibliomobile de la MEL
- Bicloubook
- Bougainvillier éditions
- Cours toujours
- École des loisirs
- Éditions de la Gouttière
- Éditions de l'Horloge
- Éditions du Typhon
- Éditions La Découverte
- La Fourmi Éditions
- Le Téètras Magic
- Les Venterniers
- Light Motiv
- Maison de la Poésie des Hauts-de-France
- Médiathèque départementale du Nord
- Obriart
- Zine Panique
- Vous êtes ici
- Wallonie-Bruxelles International
On-site
- Free admission, free activities
- Food trucks on site
- Bar area inside Bazaar St-So
- Books are sold at fixed prices by the participating bookstores
Off-site
The festival extends to bookstores, libraries, and cinemas. Details of this program have not yet been published.
Prices Livres d'en haut 2026
Practical information — Livres d'en haut
Practical Information
Location
Gare Saint-Sauveur, 17 boulevard Jean-Baptiste Lebas, 59000 Lille. The festival site stretches from the Gare Saint-Sauveur to the Bazaar St-So.
Hours
Saturday, October 3rd, 2026, from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM.
Admission
Admission is free. Activities are free, but space is limited: the organizers recommend registering in advance on their website. There is no waiting list; if an event is full, try checking at the information desk just before it starts, as spots often open up at the last minute.
Getting There
- Metro: Line 2, Mairie de Lille or Lille Grand Palais stations
- Bus: L5, Liberté stop; Line 14, Jean-Baptiste Lebas stop
- V'Lille: Boulevard Louis XIV or Jean-Baptiste Lebas stations
- On foot: 15 minutes from the Lille-Flandres train station
- By car: The organizers advise against driving. On Saturdays, parking in the yellow zone costs €20 for 4 hours, and the post-parking penalty fee is €35.
Dining
Food trucks are available on-site. A bar area is open inside the Bazaar St-So.
Book Signings
You are welcome to bring your own books. However, for the Comics & Manga section, a ticket system applies: purchasing a book at these stands grants you a ticket, which allows you to have any book of your choice signed.
For Children
The youth section includes drawing and writing workshops, read-aloud sessions, a reading nook, youth book signings, and the Foire aux histoires, offering around ten activities centered on reading, illustration, and poetry for children and teenagers.
Accessibility
The festival and its activities are accessible to people with reduced mobility. Dogs are not permitted, with the exception of assistance dogs.
Volunteering
The festival is looking for volunteers. The registration form can be found on the official website under the "Devenir bénévole" section.
Contact
Association Les Libraires d'en haut — [email protected]. Press contact: Nolwenn Vandestien, Festival Director, 06 23 53 48 16.
The Lille Book Fair
Founded in 2021 by the association Les Libraires d'en haut, a network of independent bookstores in the Hauts-de-France region, the Festival des livres d'en haut is the only book fair held in Lille. It takes place every autumn in the Saint-Sauveur district, and admission is free.
Three Main Areas
The program is divided into three sections: Youth, Comics & Manga, and Literature & Humanities. Each participating bookstore invites its own authors and hosts them at its dedicated stand.
Signings, Meetings, and Workshops
The festival is primarily a book signing event, complemented by panel discussions, drawing and writing workshops, public readings, and the Foire aux histoires for younger visitors. Activities are free, but booking in advance is recommended as spots are limited.
A Showcase for Regional Publishing
Exhibitor stands are largely run by publishers from the Hauts-de-France region — Éditions de la Gouttière, Éditions du Typhon, La Fourmi Éditions, Le Téètras Magic, Light Motiv, Cours toujours, Obriart, Bougainvillier — alongside the Maison de la Poésie des Hauts-de-France, the Médiathèque départementale du Nord, and the mobile library from the Métropole européenne de Lille.
Attendance
For its fifth edition in October 2025, the festival welcomed over 10,000 visitors over three days, featuring 128 authors and a special focus on Quebec, with around twenty publishing houses and a dozen Quebecois authors. 2025 also marked the festival's first time hosting school groups, with a half-day session dedicated to over 200 children in partnership with the Cité Éducative.
Beyond the Festival Walls
The program continues after the weekend with various events held in local bookstores, libraries, and cinemas.
Where does it take place — Livres d'en haut
Livres d'en haut in brief
History of Livres d'en haut
Edition 2025 Oct 2025Other festivals near Lille
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