Ake Arts & Book Festival Opens Registration for 2026 Edition Themed ‘Native Intelligence’
Aké Arts & Book Festival has opened registration for its 14th edition, scheduled to take place from November 19 to 21, 2026, in Lagos. The three-day festival will bring together writers, poets, artists, musicians, filmmakers and other creatives for conversations, book chats, poetry, music and other cultural events. Online tickets became available on September 1 for ₦20,000, while venue tickets will be available from November 19 for ₦25,000.
This year’s festival is themed “Native Intelligence,” a theme that considers the relationship between longstanding forms of African knowledge and the rapidly expanding influence of artificial intelligence. The festival describes Native Intelligence as existing “at the crossroads of what we have long known and what the machine is only now learning to mimic.” Its programme will consider how knowledge carried through language, ritual, community and inherited traditions continues to shape contemporary life at a time when artificial intelligence is transforming storytelling, elections and the ways truth is produced and reported. The festival asks a central question: “whose intelligence are we building the future on?”
Among the writers and creatives listed as guests for the 2026 edition are Nigerian-American speculative fiction writer Nnedi Okorafor, whose work spans novels, comics and film; Nigerian writers Chika Unigwe, Irenosen Okojie, A. Igoni Barrett, Suyi Okungbowa, Dami Ajayi and Nnamdi Ehirim; and Kenyan writer Wanjiru Koinange. The guest list also includes Ghanaian writer and cultural commentator Nana Darkoa Sekyiamah, Nigerian poet and writer Sada Malumfashi, writer and filmmaker Wana Udobang, and writers and creatives including Roye Okupe, Wole Talabi, Khadija Yusra Sanusi, Maryam Bukar Hassan, Richard Ali, Nenye Igbudu and Wole Talabi.
Now in its fourteenth year, Aké Arts & Book Festival has hosted more than 1,000 writers, poets, musicians, actors, filmmakers, artists and thinkers, establishing itself as one of Africa’s prominent literary and cultural gatherings. Organised by the Book Buzz Foundation, the festival was founded in 2012 with a broader commitment to promoting literacy, reading and culture, particularly among children and young people. Its annual programme has grown into a meeting point for literary conversation, artistic exchange and engagement with contemporary African culture.
The 2026 festival will be held at BON Hotel Ikeja Residence, 51 Sobo Arobiodu Street, Ikeja GRA, Lagos, located approximately 12 minutes from Murtala Mohammed International Airport. The festival organisers have also provided information about hotels and guest houses within walking distance or a short ride from the venue, with accommodation assistance available through the Book Buzz Foundation’s logistics team.
The ₦20,000 online festival ticket includes access to all Aké Festival 2026 events, as well as the festival guide, the 2026 edition of Aké Review, and a festival ID card and lanyard. A ₦200,000 Green Room option, limited to 10 spaces, is also listed and includes access to the Green Room, festival Wi-Fi, buffet lunch and dinner, refreshments, a gift bag and access to all festival events.
Click here to register:
https://akefestival.org/festival/register/
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