From October 7 to 11, the 78th Frankfurt International Book Fair, Frankfurter Buchmesse, will take place in Frankfurt am Main—the world's largest literary event, held annually on the third Wednesday of October. The fair is not only the largest in terms of the number of visitors, but also in terms of the number of publishers presenting their new books. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from around the world flock to Frankfurt to take part in this unique literary event, UNN writes.
The History of the Frankfurt Book Fair
The Frankfurt Book Fair has existed since the mid-15th century. At that time, printers from Switzerland, the Netherlands, England, Poland, Italy, and France came to Frankfurt to exchange their books. In the mid-17th century, Leipzig, as the center of Germany's second book fair, took over the leading position in Germany.
However, both book fairs were suspended at the end of the 19th century—first the Frankfurt fair, and then the Leipzig fair. At the beginning of World War I, Leipzig revived its book-fair tradition, and later—in the 1920s—Frankfurt did the same. However, these initiatives did not last long.
The modern Frankfurt Book Fair began in 1949 with two hundred German participants. In 1954, for the first time, there were more international participants at the fair than German ones—namely, 534 from 19 foreign countries versus 524 from Germany.
The Modern Frankfurt Book Fair
Today, more than 7,000 exhibitors from approximately 100 countries around the world and more than 286,000 visitors take part in the fair over five days. This year, the Czech Republic will be the Guest of Honour. Participants in the book fair primarily include publishers, agents, booksellers, librarians, scholars, illustrators, service providers, producers, translators, and associations of artists, authors, booksellers, software companies, and multimedia providers.
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Ukraine at the Fair
A number of Ukraine's leading publishers participate in the Frankfurt Book Fair. As of 2011, Ukraine had participated in the Frankfurt International Book Fair eighteen times.
Ukraine will also present a national stand at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2026 this year. The aim of this year's participation is to draw the world's attention to Ukrainian publishing, establish international ties, and discuss losses in the cultural sphere resulting from the war.
The Ukrainian national stand will be located in Hall 3.1, C13. Forty-four publishers will present their books, including: A-BA-BA-HA-LA-MA-HA, ADEF-Ukraine, ARTBOOKS, ASSA, Astrolabe, ATHENA, Bilka, Bohdan, BUKSHEF, Vesna, Vivat, Vikhola, Old Lion Publishing House, Gelblau, Horobets, Dach Magazine, Knygolav, Kovyla Publishing, Laboratoria, Literary Agency "lit grunt", Literary Agency "OVO", Literaturna Brama, Mamino, MISON, Moya Knyzhkova Polychka, Nash Format, Orlando, Osnovy, Ranok, SAFRAN, Stylet i Stylos, Ukraїner, Ukrainian Cartographic Group, Ouroboros, Folio, Chas Zmin Inform, Chas Maistriv, Chytarium, Chorni Vivtsi, SHKOLA, Yurincom Inter, Creative Publishing, Creative Women Publishing, Dach Magazine, ist publishing.