The "4th Fliparacatu" – International Literary Festival of Paracatu – took place from August 26 to 30, 2026, in the Historic Center of the Minas Gerais municipality of Paracatu, bringing together 32,500 participants over the five days of programming. The fourth edition of the festival, with the theme "Sertão in Us: My Place in the World," honored João Guimarães Rosa for the 70th anniversary of the publication of Grande Sertão: Veredas and Milton Santos on the centenary of his birth.
The event featured the participation of 68 authors, including one international author, 31 of national prominence, 11 focused on children's audiences, and 24 local authors. Among the highlighted names were Mia Couto, Míriam Leitão, Jeferson Tenório, Eliana Alves Cruz, Jamil Chade, among others. The program included 28 national and international debate panels, 11 local panels, 17 children's and youth panels, eight workshops, and four musical performances, totaling 68 activities distributed across eight thematic spaces. Sessions in the auditorium, with a capacity for 600 people, reached full capacity most of the time.
The organization was overseen by five curators: Afonso Borges as festival president, Calila das Mercês and Sérgio Abranches for national and international programming, Daniela Prado for local curation, and Rafael Nolli for children's and youth activities. The festival was produced by Mentha Cultural with master sponsorship from Kinross via the Rouanet Law of the Ministry of Culture, in addition to sponsorship from Caixa and support from the Paracatu City Hall, Academy of Letters of Northwest Minas, and Sebrae. The infrastructure included 560 m² of covered area, more than 38 tons of structures and equipment, and directly involved 124 professionals, with at least 234 people mobilized in total between direct and indirect staff.
The festival bookstore, with 220 m², sold approximately five thousand copies distributed among 1,500 titles. Before the official opening, the Essay and Drawing Prize, with the theme "My Place in the World," mobilized students of all age groups from early childhood to Youth and Adult Education (EJA) in partnership with the Paracatu Education Secretariat. All debates were broadcast live and are available for free on YouTube. The activities addressed topics such as literature, memory, belonging, racism, Afrofuturism, democracy, environment, inequality, and speculative fiction, also covering music, visual arts, slam, rap battles, oral tradition, embroidery, and workshops.
