Singapore's biggest-ever fair dedicated to local literature has taken over Level 1 Central Court at VivoCity. Singapore Book Street 2026 runs from 2-8 November, 10am to 10pm daily, and admission is free. It's the largest SingLit book fair the country has seen, with more than 1,200 titles on sale across four languages: English, Malay, Chinese and Tamil.
Organised by the National Arts Council and the Singapore Book Publishers Association, the fair also marks a homecoming of sorts. Book festivals were last held in the HarbourFront area back in the 1970s and 80s, when the Singapore Festival of Books ran at the former World Trade Centre, now HarbourFront Centre. The genres on offer span fiction, poetry, fantasy, children's books and heritage titles about Singapore's history and culture.
Beyond the shelves, there's a solid programme of things to do. Author signings run throughout the week, with writers including Janice Khoo, Ames Chan, Ling Yuan, Shirley Ong and Maria Mahat representing publishers such as Epigram Books, EPH, Lingzi Media and Shing Lee. A cosy reading corner with bean bags and tables gives families a spot to rest and start on new purchases.
Three interactive stations add some fun. The Live Drawing Station (3-8 November) offers a personalised portrait sketched in under 10 minutes by a rotating roster of artists - free with a $50 minimum spend, capped at 10 customers per timeslot. Live Typewriter Poetry works similarly: give a poet your name and three random words and receive a one-of-a-kind typed poem, also with the $50 spend requirement. The SingLit Cloud Printer, meanwhile, is completely free - a kiosk that prints poems on receipt-style slips, either via a personality quiz, a random pick, or choosing a specific title.
There's a stamp rally too, with six stations around the fair. The stamps are designed by Linda Yew and Cheng Puay Koon, winners of the Singapore Children's Book Festival's Illustrator of the Year 2026, and each artwork is built from three layered stamps you collect in sequence. Spend $100 or more and you'll walk away with a tote bag, notebook, stickers and a Stamp Rally Passbook.
One of the smartest angles for locals: many titles carry a red SG Culture Pass label, meaning you can pay for them with your government-issued Culture Pass credits. If you haven't activated yours, log in at the official SG Culture Pass website with Singpass, fill in your profile and a short survey, and the credits arrive automatically via GovWallet.
For visitors in Singapore this first week of November, it's an easy add-on to a HarbourFront day out - browse local writing you won't find in mainstream chains, pick up signed books straight from their creators, and grab a free poem souvenir before the fair wraps on 8 November.
