Bologna Children’s Book Fair Kicks Off The Road To The 2026 Edition

With the energy that has defined it for over sixty years, Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF) is getting ready for its 63rd edition, scheduled to take place at the BolognaFiere exhibition centre from April 13 to 16, 2026, alongside BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus)—dedicated to general publishing and organized in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE)—and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids (BLTF/Kids), focused on brands in the children’s sector. The 2026 edition will be shaped by a strong commitment to innovation and expansion into new segments of the creative industries, with the goal of strengthening and completing its book-to-screen offering. In pursuit of this goal, the fair is set to launch a program of appearances at key international content development events—opportunities to promote its offerings and to expand and solidify its international network through meetings with stakeholders, strategic partners, and key industry players.

From August 20 to 24, 2025, BCBF took part in GamesCom in Cologne: the leading international event for the video game industry and a key meeting point for developers, publishers, distributors, and professionals from around the world. GamesCom serves as a strategic hub for the entire gaming ecosystem. BCBF was present with initiatives focused on audiovisual content and cross-media storytelling, starting with the Games Business Centre—the industry-focused area launched in 2024 in collaboration with Frankfurter Buchmesse and successfully introduced at BCBF 2025. This space is designed to foster dialogue between publishing, gaming, and new narrative forms, and to highlight the development and business opportunities the gaming industry offers to the publishing and licensing world.