Plan your NH Book Festival adventure!

The NH Book Festival is fast approaching! Here are some logistical tips to make your planning easy so you can focus on the festival, and the many wonderful FREE author panels, conversations, and readings featured on Saturday, October 3 ! 

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS: Friday and Saturday evenings’ ticketed keynote events with Jodi Picoult and Jeff Kinney respectively will take place in the Capitol Center for the Arts. Tickets are still available here!

SATURDAY SCHEDULE: Saturday’s FREE adult author panels, conversations, and poetry readings, which commence at 9:30 AM, will take place in the Capitol Center for the Arts, while kidlit and young adult author panels and conversations will be in the KidLit Stage tent in the Festival Village. All panels are fully accessible.

Each 55-minute panel will conclude with a Q&A, and afterward, authors will sign books in the Author Signing Tent in the village. You can purchase books—as well as NH Book Festival gear—any time in the Festival Booksale Tent in the Festival Village.

PARKING: If you’re driving from out of town, we recommend these three downtown garages, where all-day parking is FREE on weekends: the Capitol Commons Parking Garage, 75 Storrs Street (two blocks from the festival), School Street Public Parking Garage, 17 School Street (three blocks from the festival), and State Street Public Parking Garage, 19 North State Street (four blocks from the festival). On-street parking in downtown Concord is metered, and parking on Main Street is limited to three hours. More parking info can be found here.

LOGISTICS: On Saturday, look for the flags on South Main Street that mark the entrances to the Festival Village—where all the magic happens! Within the village, you’ll find the Author’s Stage, which will host six panels, Gibson’s Bookstore; the Kidlit Stage, which will host the festival’s kidlit author conversations; the Festival Booksale Tent, and a variety of vendors and exhibitors for all ages.

Don’t miss the fabulous food vendors in the Festival Village: Batulo’s Kitchen, Playa Bowls, and The Gravy Train (Facebook, Instagram),  where you can find a snack or meal. Downtown Concord also offers some great lunch and dinner options. For a quick meal or snack, we recommend these nearby spots, all on Main Street: Constantly Pizza, located at the north end of the Festival Village, serves pizza, subs, sandwiches, and salads. Gibson’s Café, part of Gibson’s Bookstore, offers sandwiches, salads, soup, and breakfast burritos all day. The Works Bakery is known for their bagels, sandwiches, quinoa bowls, and baked goods. Dos Amigos Burritos features tacos, burritos, chili, nachos, and more. And Live Juice has a variety of salads, smoothies, wraps, and fresh juices.

FACILITIES: You can find porta-potties at the village’s north end (restrooms also located on the ground floor of the Capitol Center for the Arts, and in Gibson’s Bookstore, both in the adult and children’s sections).

Still have questions? Please visit our FAQ page, contact us, or seek out a NH Book Festival Volunteer on the day. We can’t wait to see you in October!