The Bookfest International Book Fair returns with a new edition in Bucharest this spring, with Italy as the guest country. The event will be held at Romexpo on May 24-28.

At the stand of the guest of honour, book lovers will have the opportunity to participate in debates, book launches, and meetings with cultural and literary personalities, according to a press release quoted by Agerpres.

The Romanian Publishers Association also announced that exhibitors could register for Bookfest 2023 starting March 8. The rates were kept unchanged, as did the facilities offered to small publishing houses, which can book a standard 6 sqm stand for the price of a 4 sqm stand.

“Keeping exhibition rates at the same level as in 2022 is an effort that the Association is making to help an industry hit hard by the pandemic and currently lacking any specific support measure. Bookfest was conceived from the beginning as a celebration of the book, and I hope that the presence of Italy as the guest of honour, as well as the facilities we offer to publishers, will bode well for this sixteenth edition, which the Ministry of Culture has just included among its 2023 strategic projects,” said Grigore Arsene, president of the Romanian Publishers Association.

Bookfest is the most important book fair in Romania. Over 170 exhibitors were present at the previous edition, with the five-day program comprising over 400 events, from launches and debates to film screenings and interactive events. The guest of honour of the 2022 edition was Japan.

Other countries such as Spain, Hungary, France, German-speaking countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland), Poland, the Czech Republic, Israel, Sweden, and the United States of America were guests at international editions of previous years.

Bookfest also has local editions in Timisoara, Cluj-Napoca, Târgu Mureş, and Braşov, and another international edition in Chisinau.

irina.marica@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Adrea | Dreamstime.com)