Wednesday 4 November 2026 opens the 45th Sharjah International Book Fair, a 12-day run at Expo Centre Sharjah that closes on Sunday 15 November. Entry is free, and Oman is the guest of honour, with its own programme of writers, thinkers and artists.
The fair began in 1982 under Sheikh Dr Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Ruler of Sharjah, and the Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) organises it today. The public days are the visible part of a larger event that also includes a rights-trading conference for publishers, a library conference and a prize list worth AED 625,000.
SIBF 2026 overview
| Category | Event Parameter | Details & Guidelines |
|---|---|---|
| Event Overview | Event & Edition | Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) – 45th Edition |
| Official Dates & Duration | Wednesday, 4 November – Sunday, 15 November 2026 (12 Days) | |
| Organising Authority | Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) | |
| Host & Venue | Venue & Address | Expo Centre Sharjah, Al Taawun Street, Al Khan, Sharjah, UAE |
| Guest of Honour | Sultanate of Oman (Special cultural pavilion celebrating Omani literature, heritage, and authors) | |
| Visiting & Hours | Exhibition Hours |
• Saturday – Thursday: 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM (open until 11:00 PM on peak weekend nights) • Fridays: 04:00 PM – 11:00 PM |
| General Admission | Free Entry for all general public visitors, families, and students |
Doors open at 10 AM every day except Friday, when the halls open at 4 PM. Closing time is 10 PM from Sunday to Wednesday and 11 PM from Thursday to Saturday.
Days Hours 2026 dates Sunday to Wednesday 10 AM to 10 PM 4, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 15 November Thursday and Saturday 10 AM to 11 PM 5, 7, 12 and 14 November Friday 4 PM to 11 PM 6 and 13 November Friday is the one day with no morning access, so anyone planning a morning visit should pick another day. Thursday and Saturday give the longest window at 13 hours, against 12 on Sunday to Wednesday and 7 on Friday.
Getting to Expo Centre Sharjah
The fair is held at Expo Centre Sharjah on Al Taawun Street in the Al Khan area. Sharjah has no metro, so the Dubai Metro does not reach the venue, and the realistic choices are a car, a boat or a shuttle bus.
By road
Parking is available at the Expo Centre itself, Al Qasba and Sharjah Aquarium. The last two work best as park-and-ride points, because free boats link both to the venue.
By boat
Free traditional boats run between Sharjah Aquarium, Al Qasba and the Expo Centre during opening hours. Dubai’s FR5 marine route connects Al Ghubaiba Marine Station to the Sharjah Aquarium Marine Station, which makes the boat the simplest car-free route from Dubai. In 2025, 87,674 visitors used marine transport to reach the fair.
Shuttle buses from Dubai & Ajman
The Sharjah Book Authority has run free shuttle buses from Al Rashidiya Bus Station in Dubai and from the City Centre Ajman parking area, with several departures a day in each direction. Dubai also has the regular bus and ferry routes into Sharjah, which suit visitors arriving outside the shuttle windows.
What’s on at the fair
Author sessions, workshops and family activities fill a daily programme that runs across every hall.
- Author talks, panel discussions and book signings.
- Writing, publishing and creative workshops in Arabic and English.
- Activities for children and young adults, plus poetry evenings.
- The Cookery Corner, where guest chefs cook live.
- Stage performances, which reached 85 from 12 countries in 2025.
- The guest-of-honour pavilion, which this year belongs to Oman.
For scale, the 2025 edition held more than 1,200 events and activities with over 250 guests from 66 countries, including 750-plus workshops.
Guest of honour: Oman
Oman is the guest of honour for the 45th edition, following Morocco in 2024 and Greece in 2025. The programme covers prose, theatre, poetry, contemporary literature and visual arts, with Omani writers, intellectuals and publishers appearing on the fair’s stages.
Each guest country gets a national pavilion. Greece’s in 2025 held 600 titles from 58 publishers and ran workshops, performances and culinary events alongside the book displays.
How big the fair is
The fair peaked at 2.52 million visitors in 2019. Attendance has since settled lower while the exhibitor count has stayed above 2,300.
Edition Visitors Publishers & exhibitors Countries 2019 (38th) 2.52 million 2,000 81 2024 (43rd) 1.82 million 2,500+ 112 2025 (44th) 1.40 million 2,350 118 The 2025 attendance was 1,400,730 visits, and more than 125,000 school students took part in dedicated programmes. Visitors came from 198 nationalities.
Industry programmes: publishers, librarians & translators
Two professional conferences surround the public days, and neither is aimed at casual visitors.
- Sharjah International Publishers Conference (16th edition): 1 to 3 November at Expo Centre Sharjah, with 30 workshops, one-to-one rights meetings and business matchmaking. It sits behind Sharjah’s position as the world’s largest marketplace for buying and selling publishing rights, a title held for the fifth consecutive year after 2025, when 1,599 publishers from 116 countries held more than 3,300 rights meetings.
- Sharjah International Library Conference (13th edition): 7 to 9 November, organised with the American Library Association. Sessions run in English and Arabic with simultaneous translation, and the 2026 themes link reading to education, healthcare and artificial intelligence.
Alongside the conferences, the SIBF Translation Grant carries US$300,000 for deals concluded at the Publishers Conference. Of that, US$250,000 supports translations from or into Arabic and US$50,000 covers other language pairs. A single title can receive up to US$4,000 for general books or US$1,500 for children’s books.
SIBF Awards 2026
The SIBF Awards 2026 total AED 625,000 across 10 awards, and the winners are announced at the opening ceremony of the 45th edition. They cover books published in 2025 and 2026, with poetry open to titles from 2024 onward.
| Award Category | Award Title | Prize Value (AED) | Prize Distribution & Terms |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sharjah Emirati Book Awards | Best Emirati Novel | AED 100,000 | Awarded to a distinguished published novel by an Emirati author |
| Best Emirati Academic Book | AED 100,000 | Awarded for scholarly research and academic publication | |
| Best Emirati Creative Literature (Poetry) | AED 50,000 | Dedicated to outstanding poetic works and verse collections | |
| Best Emirati First Novel | AED 50,000 | Encouraging debut Emirati fiction authors | |
| Regional & International Awards | Best Arabic Novel | AED 150,000 | Split equally: AED 75,000 to the author and AED 75,000 to the publishing house |
| Best International Book (English) | AED 100,000 | Split equally: AED 50,000 for Best Fiction and AED 50,000 for Best Non-Fiction | |
| Publishing Industry | Publisher Recognition Award | AED 75,000 |
Distributed as AED 25,000 each across three distinct segments: • Best Local Publisher • Best Arab Publisher • Best International Publisher |
Is the Sharjah International Book Fair free?
Yes. Entry to the fair is free for the general public, and the same applies to the 2026 edition.
When is the Sharjah International Book Fair in 2026?
The 45th edition runs from Wednesday 4 to Sunday 15 November 2026, a total of 12 days.
Is the fair open on Fridays?
Yes, from 4 PM to 11 PM. The two Fridays in 2026 are 6 and 13 November.
Which country is the guest of honour in 2026?
Oman. Sheikha Bodour bint Sultan Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Book Authority, announced the choice in Muscat in February 2026.
Can you reach Expo Centre Sharjah by metro?
No, because Sharjah has no metro. Visitors from Dubai use the FR5 marine route, a bus or the free shuttle service, and the last stretch from Sharjah Aquarium or Al Qasba is covered by free boats.
Planning your visit
- Pick the day by the hours: Thursday and Saturday for the longest stay, any day from Sunday to Wednesday for a morning start, and Friday only for the evening.
- Park at Al Qasba or Sharjah Aquarium and take the free boat if you want to avoid the Expo Centre car parks.
- Treat the Publishers Conference on 1 to 3 November and the Library Conference on 7 to 9 November as separate professional events, since the public days start on 4 November.
