Books, Flowers, and Kyiv: How the Third Book Country Went

More than 27,000 people attended the festival.

Book Country is one of Ukraine's largest literary festivals. The third edition of the event took place April 24-27 at VDNH in Kyiv, turning the Expocenter into a paradise for literature lovers with piles of books. The DeTalks team attended the festival and gathered its brightest moments in this exclusive report.

For people who only visit VDNH for Book Country, almost nothing has changed since last fall — some publishers even kept their same spots. The hardest task was finding the right info tent to get our badges — it took three tries. To avoid making the same mistake, it's worth checking the festival map.

We didn't manage to properly browse the book stands, though, since our eyes kept scanning for bloggers willing to give a comment.

Blogger and psychologist Anastasiia Zabela has shared her observations, saying she was surprised by how many people showed up, since she'd expected fewer, noting that people were walking around, buying books, with lines forming at many of the stands, and that there were quite a lot of young people.

Book Country in Numbers

Over the course of four days, the festival was attended by more than 27,500 guests — a new Book Country record. The festival program included 365 events: 120 presentations, 72 discussions, 63 creative and literary workshops, 60 autograph sessions, 30 readings, 10 game sessions, four theatrical performances, and six quests. The fair itself had 140 participants, including publishers, bookstores, shops, and independent authors.

Publisher KSD drew notably long lines, having celebrated its 25th anniversary on April 24, marking the occasion with a symbolic 25% discount on all its books throughout the festival (April 24-27).

Choosing which events to attend was difficult, since several ran at the same time. The program covered everything from family readings and bookmark-making workshops to discussions about film and theater featuring bloggers, influencers, and invited guests.

Book Bloggers' Award

This year's festival novelty was a book award — an initiative meant to recognize the most talked-about, most interesting book of the year, one that drew the most attention from Ukrainian readers and bloggers. But the award's goal wasn't just to honor authors or publishers, but to look at a book as a phenomenon — through its content, design, and meaning.

The festival will separately recognize Ukrainian and translated books, to highlight the diversity of the literary field. So this spring, a Ukrainian original edition was chosen, and in the fall, a translated one will be selected."

The award's shortlist included five books published in Ukraine between May 2024 and March 2025. The winner was Liubko Deresh's work The Medusa's Gaze.

More Than Just Books

There was also no shortage of 'stomach celebrations' — the Silpo food court set up on the Expocenter grounds, where you could grab a good meal and continue your walk through Book Country. You could also always stop to rest on benches or sit in beanbag chairs, of which there were surprisingly plenty (or on the grass, though we wouldn't recommend that in the future).

Several photo zones were also set up across the grounds. Among them: a giant replica of Rebecca Yarros's book Onyx Storm, which publisher KSD will soon begin selling, a 'flower' room with Mr. Raccoon, and a BOOKCHEF stand featuring "Heaven Official's Blessing", where visitors could take photos with Hua Cheng and Xie Lian cosplayers.

During Book Country, the DeTalks team spoke with various literary bloggers, BookTokers, and other event guests. Look for more exclusive videos on our Telegram channel.

Book Country: Key Facts About the Festival

• Book Country is a literary festival held at VDNH in Kyiv. The first festival ran April 25-28, 2024. Since then, more than 210,000 people have attended Book Country, making it one of Ukraine's most popular festivals.
• According to an organizers' survey, two-thirds of visitors had never attended a book festival before, showing that the event is drawing new audiences into book culture.
• During the festival, around 90,000 books were sold for a combined total of 28 million hryvnias — a record figure.
• This year's Book Country was decorated with a floral theme.
• The next festival is scheduled for September 25-28, 2025.