Ithaca will host its sixth annual Ithaca is Books festival Thursday through Sunday. The festival, taking place across downtown Ithaca, will feature book signings, author presentations, an opportunity to adopt kittens and more community events.
The festival was organized through the Tompkins County Public Library and Ithaca’s local bookstores, including Autumn Leaves Books, Buffalo Street Books, Odyssey Bookstore and PM Press. Founded with the purpose of building community between booklovers, the festival has expanded since its genesis in 2021 to the four-day celebration it is today, according to the festival’s website.
This fall, nearly 30 festival events will be hosted at 18 locations throughout downtown Ithaca. The festival will host panels on topics ranging from the future of democracy, to children's books to sapphic love stories.
Ithaca’s former mayor, Svante Myrick ’09, will headline the festival and present his book, The Art of Saving Democracy: An Action Kit for Making Change, released in June 2026.
The “Action Kit” described in the book provides “artwork, tools, prompts and practical inspiration to help people make their voices visible,” according to Myrick's political advocacy organization, People For.
Buffalo Street Books will host Myrick and New York State Assemblymember Anna Kelles (D-Tompkins) for a discussion titled, “The Art of Saving Democracy” on Thursday.
In addition to panels, there will be hands-on activities, such as the Story + Craft event held at 4 p.m. on Thursday at the TCPL, and opportunities to buy books from more than 25 vendors at the Saturday and Sunday book fair.
On the festival’s final day, Buffalo Street Books will hold a cat-themed book reading and signing for Unconditional: Stories of Women and the Animals They Love by Cat Willett, with kittens to adopt or simply snuggle, provided by the Browncoat Cat Rescue.
All 18 locations hosting festival events are local businesses, including non-book related stores like Alphabet Soup and Cayuga Creamery.
“Ithaca is Books Festival runs on community power,” the festival’s site reads.
Lila Davis is a member of the Class of 2029 in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. She is a staff writer for the news department and can be reached at ldavis@cornellsun.com.
