Porto’s First Literary Festival, Opening of New Wing at Livraria Lello and Introduction of New Literary Walk through Porto.
Next month, Livraria Lello in Porto – widely regarded as one of the world’s most beautiful bookshops thanks to its neo-Gothic interiors, sweeping crimson staircase and stained-glass ceiling – will be celebrating its 120th anniversary with the opening of a new wing and the launch of Porto’s first literary festival featuring Salman Rushdie, Margaret Attwood and Julian Barnes amongst others. To mark the launch, Hotel Forte de Gaia, Autograph Collection will introduce a new literary walking tour of Porto, exploring the city’s independent bookstores, hidden literary corners and historic cafés beyond the usual tourist trail.
Livraria Lello’s new wing, designed by architect Álvaro Siza Vieira, is in the adjacent building to the bookshop and connected by a glass elevator. It forms part of a wider cultural and urban regeneration strategy of central Porto by the Livraria Lello Foundation. The project is part of Livraria Lello’s evolution from a historic bookstore and tourist attraction into a broader cultural institution with the extension housing a new cultural events space and commissioned contemporary art, including a new installation by Ai WeiWei. It will also contain the bookshop’s wide range of rare first editions including Alice in Wonderland, Lolita, Moby Dick and Pride and Prejudice, as well as Amy Winehouse’s personal library, which includes books with private notes, lipstick on the pages and lyrics for a song she never finished.
The expansion of Livaria Lello is also designed to ease pressure on the original 1906 neo-Gothic bookshop, which now draws around 3,500 visitors a day and more than one million annually – numbers fuelled largely by the enduring belief that its famous staircase inspired J. K. Rowling during her time living in Porto in the early 1990s to create Hogwarts in the Harry Potter series.
The Foundation is also organising its first literary and cultural festival BABELL across the city from 24 to 29 June 2026, with major international writers, concerts, performances, exhibitions and talks. Other writers appearing include 2018 International Booker Prize winner in Olga Tokarczuk, the American poet Reginald Dwayne Betts and Argentinian writer Alberto Manguel.
Instead of buying a ticket, readers buy a book from one of roughly 50 participating bookshops, which will give a unique code, which can be used on the BABELL website to reserve a seat for a specific session. There’s no minimum spend so a one Euro second-hand book counts just as much as a 20 Euros hardback. BABELL will be an annual event and is designed to push cultural tourism towards actual reading and supporting Porto’s independent booksellers. Many of the sessions will be staged outdoors in squares and historic sites in the city.
The new half day private guided literary walking tour for guests staying at Forte de Gaia will be available on request. Wandering along streets named after famous Portuguese authors, the walk will take in several ancient bookstores including Moreira da Costa, the oldest bookshop in Porto as well as more offbeat stores such as Timtim Por Timtim, which is dedicated to old comic books and Gato Vadio in trendy Bonfim district, featuring alternative literature. A stop at Cafe Candelabro, a gathering place for the young and artsy in Porto, will allow time to browse among books with a coffee or glass of wine.
The city of Gaia just over the bridge from Porto is emerging as one of Portugal’s most exciting new cultural hubs. Stay at Forte de Gaia Autograph Collection, which was once a wine warehouse and sits amongst Gaia’s iconic port wine cellars on the banks of the Douro with an outdoor pool and rooftop views of the Dom Luis I Bridge. Its contemporary interiors have been designed by Portuguese designer Nini Andrade Silva to honour the traditions of the Douro wine region, using wood and cork textures and curved architectural lines echoing the terraced vineyards. The hotel’s signature restaurant Renata offers a menu which reinterprets traditional cuisine, combining Portuguese heritage with flavours from countries with Portuguese influence. Rooms start at £250 per night with breakfast.