More than 12,000 book lovers attended the second annual KPBS San Diego Book Festival on Saturday at the University of San Diego — about 4,000 more than last year's festival.
An estimated 4,200 children attended the festival.
PBS KIDS characters greeted young fans, including Clifford the Big Red Dog, Daniel Tiger and Arthur. Other characters included the Cat in the Hat, Bluey and the San Diego Public Library's mascot, Odie.
"I saw the Cat in the Hat, and I saw Daniel Tiger," said Misha, 4. "I like to read. And I came here because my friend came here."
Misha's dad, David, added, "We came here to read and also to play with our friends and enjoy all of the literature together."
To kick off the festival, KPBS announced the 2026 selections for One Book, One San Diego, marking the 20th anniversary of the regionwide reading program. Each year, books for adults, teens and children are chosen to encourage people across the San Diego and Baja region to read the same books.
This year's adult selection is "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" by Stephen Graham Jones, a historical horror novel set in the American West in 1912. The story begins after a Lutheran pastor's diary is discovered hidden in a wall. The diary reveals a massacre of hundreds of members of the Blackfeet Nation, and one man named Good Stab, whose story is transcribed from confessional interviews.
The teen selection is "The Cartoonists Club: A Graphic Novel" by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud. The graphic novel follows a group of young people who put their heads — and talents — together to find a way to make art despite their struggles.
The children's selection is "Books on Bikes," or "Libros libres, sobre ruedas" in Spanish, by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Brizida Magro. The book is inspired by real book-bike programs and explores how children can change their own communities.
Readers can find all three One Book, One San Diego selections at San Diego city and county public libraries.
2026 One Book, One San Diego selections
- Adults: "The Buffalo Hunter Hunter" by Stephen Graham Jones
- Teens: "The Cartoonists Club: A Graphic Novel" by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud
- Kids: "Books on Bikes" / "Libros libres, sobre ruedas" by F. Isabel Campoy and Theresa Howell, illustrated by Brizida Magro
"Creating the San Diego Book Festival was a natural extension of KPBS' role as San Diego's storyteller and our One Book, One San Diego program, which has a long-standing commitment to literacy in this region," said Jenelle Dean, community engagement manager for KPBS and lead festival planner.
Local arts leader Ramel Wallace hosted the festival as the main-stage emcee. He said the festival is a way to recognize that stories are everywhere, beyond the page.
"Right now we have someone performing music, the Stanton Street Duo," Wallace said. "There was someone talking about Emily Dickinson and doing her old poetry. I'm encouraging people to remember that you can tell stories in all sorts of different ways — through the music, you can tell it through theater and reciting a story."
Connecting through shared stories is at the heart of being a community, he said.
"You talk about Emily Dickinson — it's an older poet, older story, but ultimately she's talking about grief. She's talking about loss. She's talking about resilience," Wallace said. "What are some of the possibilities of I could actually go through this and not feel alone, because I'm hearing someone else go through a situation that's similar?"
The festival featured seven live performances, including three musical performances as part of the KPBS Sun Drenched Sounds music series and four readings of literature, spoken word and poetry.
The festival also featured 37 panels with touring authors and local San Diego writers, including five headliner sessions with Oliver James, Max Braillier, Christina Lauren, Claudette Zepeda and Chuck Tingle.
Three KPBS podcasts — Port of Entry, Cinema Junkie and The Finest — taped episodes in front of a live audience.
Eleven booksellers and 145 authors also took part in the festival. Seth Marko, owner of The Book Catapult in South Park, said the festival is affirming for local bookstores.
"All it does to me is prove that San Diego is actually a literary town, which is what a lot of us have always believed," Marko said.
He said watching the independent bookstore community thrive over the years — and come together for events like the Book Festival and San Diego Book Crawl in the spring — is further proof.
"That tells me that the people who live in San Diego actually care about having bookstores in their community, having literary events like this book festival. It's time we told ourselves that we are a literary town," Marko said.
