The Ibadan Book and Arts Festival returns from 29 to 31 October 2026 under the theme The Stories We Long to Tell. Online workshops and book conversations will lead into a closing gathering at the University of Ibadan for writers, performers, students and readers.
Organised by the Sankofa Initiative for Culture and Development, the second edition will be preceded by a poetry conversation on Sunday, 25 October. Su’eddie Vershima Agema and Professor Hyginus Ekwuazi are scheduled to discuss their collections at RovingHeights Bookstore in Old Bodija from 2pm.
Admission to the main festival is free and open to the public, with registration encouraged. The physical programme is scheduled for Olusegun Aganga Hall at the university’s International Conference Centre on Saturday, 31 October, from 9am. The opening online sessions are listed for 9.30am on Thursday and 10am on Friday.
The first day will concentrate on creative development. The festival’s published outline lists screenwriting, poetry and performance workshops led respectively by Stephen Okonkwo, Romeo Oriogun and Wana Udobang. Its online format allows participation by people who cannot travel to Ibadan.
Friday will move from practical sessions to conversations between authors and readers in Nigeria, elsewhere in Africa and the diaspora. The programme spans literary work and other forms of storytelling, including music, film and digital expression. Publishers, booksellers, educators and creative practitioners are among the audiences invited.
The closing day will combine readings, performances, a film screening, exhibitions, book displays and workshops with keynote events. The book fair and creative marketplace will provide space for publishers, artists and booksellers to present their work. A young readers’ forum is also included in the wider festival programme.
Among the scheduled guests is Yusuf Àlàbí Balógun, known as Àrẹ̀mọ Gemini, whose work centres on Yorùbá arts and culture. The poet and storyteller is listed for Saturday, 31 October. His festival biography records performances at Felabration, Aké Arts and Book Festival and the Lagos International Poetry Festival, as well as his role at the commissioning of the John Randle Centre for Yorùbá Arts and Culture.
Gemini also writes across languages and formats. His books include the Yorùbá novels Ṣẹ̀gílọlá Arómirẹ́ Ògìdán and Ìṣẹ́pẹ́, alongside the picture book When the Bulldozers Came. His presence brings a practitioner of Yorùbá literary and oral traditions into a programme that ranges from books to screenwriting.
Udobang, who is listed to lead the virtual performance workshop on 29 October, works as a writer, poet, performer and curator. Her practice includes the Culture Diaries archival project and a storytelling workshop built around memories of food. Her work draws on subjects including memory, womanhood and the body.
Another guest listed for Friday is Dotun Ayobade, an associate professor jointly appointed in Performance Studies and Black Studies at Northwestern University. His research examines performance, community, activism and cultural practice in West Africa, connecting scholarship with the festival’s discussions of artistic expression.
The inaugural festival took place on 24 and 25 October 2025 under the theme The Past as Prologue to the Future. It also used a hybrid format, beginning online before gathering at the University of Ibadan’s International Conference Centre. The 2026 programme expands the main gathering to three days.
The organiser’s announcement of 20 October places particular emphasis on students and emerging practitioners, including author-student engagement. Registration links for the festival and individual workshops are available through the official festival website.
Archival location photograph: University of Ibadan entrance, 17 August 2016, not the 2026 festival. e23xclusive via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Resized for display.
