The National Book Festival is returning with five days of activities and a larger selection of titles than ever before.

National Book Council chairman Mark Camilleri said the festival, being held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre between Wednesday and Sunday, was the biggest instalment yet.

“We will have a main hall that will be packed with stalls for publishers, and for the first time ever we have introduced a separate hall filled with stalls for book shops,” he said.

Set up in 1979, the festival is a regular fixture on the cultural calendar with more than 90 activities packed into five days.

Mr Camilleri, himself also a published author, said the free festival had last year attracted around 30,000 people and he hoped this year would see many more attend.

“We have more schools participating and we have added many more events such as talks and panel discussions over the course of the book festival,” Mr Camilleri said.

The full programme, which includes reading sessions, talks with authors, book signings and panel discussions, is available on the National Book Council website.