Frankfurt Book Fair ends as organizers celebrate rise in visitors

The Frankfurt Book Fair, the world's largest gathering of the publishing industry, concluded on Sunday with gains in all categories.

According to the organizers, by Sunday, 230,000 visitors had attended the world's largest book fair. In the previous year, it had been 215,000.

During the trade visitor days from Wednesday to Friday, 115,000 people reportedly visited the fair. The previous year, it had been 105,000. This year, they came from 153 countries. "Internationality is our hallmark," said the fair's director, Juergen Boos.

For the first time, tickets for private visitors were capped over the weekend "to ensure a pleasant and safe fair experience," a fair spokesman explained. Tickets for Saturday were sold out by Friday.

Nonetheless, after closing, the Frankfurt Book Fair also reported an increase in attendance by members of the public, with 115,000 private visitors present from Friday afternoon until the end. In the previous year, it had been 110,000.

"Anyone who could not previously imagine the growing enthusiasm for reading among young people experienced it impressively at the fair," said the chairwoman of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association, Karin Schmidt-Friderichs: "Seeing tens of thousands of book fans celebrate their favourite books and authors ignites excitement for the future of books."

The number of events also surpassed last year's figures: There were over 3,300 events at the 76th Frankfurt Book Fair, whereas in the previous year, it had been 2,600. The number of exhibitors rose from 4,100 to more than 4,300.

Despite the increase, the numbers are still far from pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, the Frankfurt Book Fair recorded more than 300,000 visitors and 7,450 exhibitors.