The Frankfurter Buchmesse, in Frankfurt, Germany, has been organized by the Frankfurter Buchmesse GmbH since 1949, when 205 German exhibitors put together the first post war book fair. Today, it is the largest book fair in the world, an international trade mark, a model for cultural events, and the leading venue for printed and digital content. As per the facts and figures published on the official website of the fair, it attracted 7,450 exhibitors, 302,267 visitors and saw over 4,000 events and had about 10,000 journalists covering all of it. Those numbers are truly mind numbing and help one to comprehend the enormity and the importance of the show. More numbers, about the visitors, exhibitors and their countries and regions of origin are shown below. These numbers and the graphic below have been taken from the official website of the fair, just like all the other numbers mentioned here.
Probably, in view of the corona virus, and also probably also because it really is the call of these times and of the future, this year in 2020, the book fair is a special edition. Because of the travel restrictions worldwide, and the social distancing norms that need to be followed, organizing physical fairs, where the exhibitors as well as the visitors have to be physically present, to be able to conduct business, has become difficult this year. This has resulted in organizers moving to the digital space, and more and more fairs and trade shows this year are being held virtually, where all the stake holders plant themselves in front of their computer screens, and conduct business meetings from the comfort of their homes. Whether this model will stand the test of time or not, only time will tell. But for the moment this is all that can be done.
It is in this regard that the Frankfurter Buchmesse, hopes to change things. The special edition this year, is to be held both physically as well as digitally. The physical version will be called the Bookfest city, and the virtual version will be called the Bookfest digital.The Bookfest city will have events on all five days of the fair, with the individual events being held all over the city of Frankfurt. The Bookfest digital on the other hand, will offer a unique celebration of literature and culture on the Saturday of the fair, and will be broadcast live all over the world. The fair this year promises to be one event that will be remembered for a long time to come, not only for the wonderful time that it is bound to deliver, but also for the new amalgamation of the new and the old style of fairs, that it is attempting to manage.
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