World Book Day 2026

Gibraltar Cultural Services (GCS), on behalf of the Ministry for Culture, is preparing its World Book Day 2026 events, which are being sponsored by the John Mackintosh Hall Trust.

As part of its commitment to literature and reading, GCS will once again issue around 1,000 free books to children in lower primary schools. In the UK, schoolchildren can access book tokens on World Book Day to collect a free book, but this is not available in Gibraltar. GCS has therefore decided to provide a book to each child to support reading at home.

This year’s title is Bear Rescue by Hannah Gold and will be provided to all Year 1 and Year 2 students in Gibraltar.

World Book Day will be celebrated on Thursday March 5. The theme this year is Percy Jackson and the Olympians. Schoolchildren will take part in a drama workshop on creating characters, an art workshop involving the creation of their own bookmark sword, and a storytelling session based on the books. Over 450 students will visit John Mackintosh Hall throughout the day to celebrate World Book Day and encourage reading for pleasure.

A public interactive storytelling session will take place in the hall after school hours, designed for children aged five to eight and presented by GAMPA Juniors. The session will be based on Greek myths, with families invited to attend. Children are welcome to come in fancy dress if they wish.

Tickets are priced at £5 per child, with accompanying adults and babies in arms attending free of charge. Tickets are available from www.Buytickets.gi.

For further information, contact the Development Unit on 200 41839 or development@culture.gov.gi