Save the Date: The Philippine Readers and Writers Festival Is Coming Back This August

(SPOT.ph)  Heads up, bookworms: the Philippine Readers and Writers Festival (PRWF) is finally returning this 2026. The three-day literary weekend will run from August 14 to 16, setting up shop at its new home: the NBS Building in Araneta City, Cubao.

For its 2026 run, National Book Store is teaming up with Komikon for the ultimate event catering to book, comic, and art lovers. And yes, entrance is still completely free. Here is everything else we know so far about this beloved festival’s much-awaited comeback.

For local literary lovers, the PRWF is a highly anticipated event that brings local readers, writers, and artists together under one roof. For its comeback year, it will run from Friday to Sunday, a three-day festival packed with author talks, book signings, panel discussions, and even practical, skill-building workshops.

A fun development to look forward to in 2026 is National Book Store’s partnership with Komikon, the country’s premier convention for local graphic novels and comics. By bringing Komikon into the fold, the festival trains a well-deserved spotlight on local comic books, indie creators, and artists right alongside beloved authors, adding a colorful new dimension to the PRWF as it makes its highly anticipated return.

For regular attendees, the festival’s 2026 return marks a major milestone. The Philippine Readers and Writers Festival’s last in-person iteration was back in 2019, a well-attended affair that took over Raffles Makati. International award-winning authors Viet Thanh Nguyen and Gina Apostol headlined the event for discussions and book signings, alongside local literary icons like Butch Dalisay, Ricky Lee, and Ambeth Ocampo.

In 2020, the festival pivoted to a week-long virtual event due to pandemic protocols. Online sessions also occurred in 2021, before the PRWF took a years-long hiatus. 

And now, finally, it’s back. The grand return is staged right at the National Book Store building in Araneta City—meaning that for local book lovers in 2026, all roads really do lead to Cubao.

For now, the full lineup of participating authors and artists is still under wraps. Still, you’ll want to save the date for this long-awaited literary weekend. We’ll keep you updated on updates once National Book Store and Komikon have released more info.

For more information, visit the National Book Store Facebook page.

Also read: Heads Up: Here Are the Dates for the Manila International Book Fair 2026