"Exploring the Annual International Book Fair in Rabat" by Claire Morris
This year UNESCO named Rabat the World Book Capital for 2026 by UNESCO. As a huge bookworm I was thrilled to see that Rabat was getting such prestigious recognition. Celebrations lasted throughout the spring, but the highlight of my experience was by far the International Publishing and Book Fair or simply “معرض الكتاب“. This year was the 31st annual fair and it definitely did not disappoint.
This year's fair was held for 10 days from May 1st-10th. You can buy tickets at the main entrance gate. Adult tickets are 10 dirhams but if you have a student card (or, in my case, just say you're a student) then the tickets are only 5 dirhams.
There's a security checkpoint with a metal detector at the entrance, though there didn't seem to be much enforcement or limitations on what you could bring inside.
Once inside the complex can seem a bit overwhelming. This year's fair had five main “halls” that housed over 890 exhibitors across 183,000 square feet. The exhibitors range from publishing houses and universities to guest speakers and cultural organizations. If (like me) you are not quite sure where to start, you can find the map by the entrance and pick 3-4 vendors that sound interesting to start with and work your way out from there.
The exhibitors are more or less divided into two sections: editors and publishers on one side and ambassadors and universities on the other side. If you want to wander endless rows of book sellers in languages ranging from various Arabic dialects to French and English, stay left. If you want to explore some of the universities’ stands or hear talks by guest speakers, stay right.
(And of course you can't forget about the food court! It's located in the back and has several tasty local food vendors to choose from.)
I loved wandering around and talking with the various vendors and book publishers. It was interesting seeing all of the translations of both Arabic books into English and English books into Arabic. I even found a copy of my favorite series as a kid (The Spiderwick Chronicles) translated into Arabic!
My favorite part of the fair though had to be The Little Prince exhibit. Located in its own building, it was a colorful and immersive love letter to the book. The Little Prince was one of my favorite books growing up (and still is today) so I was really looking forward to the installation. It had everything from copies of rare translations to original drawings by the author. A lot of the exhibits were geared towards younger kids with arts and crafts tables and fun interactive pieces, but I think it was still a lot of fun to walk though as an adult.
Overall, I would highly recommend this book fair to anyone who is lucky enough to be around when it's in town.
Claire is a student at the University of Richmond, and studying abroad in Spring 2026 on Amideast’s Area and Arabic Language Study Program in Rabat, Morocco.
