Leipzig Book Fair cancelled

The Leipziger Buchmesse, scheduled to run from March 12th-15th, has been cancelled.

That it made it onto the front pages of the national papers and television news is testimony to the popularity of the spring fair and its partner events, the book festival “Leipzig liest” (Leipzig reads) and the Manga-Comic-Convention. Leipzig attracts close to 300,000 visitors annually. This year the fair’s organiser, Oliver Zille, had beeen expecting about 2,500 exhibitors from 51 countries for the fair. “Leipzig liest” was looking at yet another record year with more than 3,700 events in about 500 different locations.

“Safety has to come first,” said Leipzig mayor Burkhard Jung in a statement. The decision was jointly taken by the city authorities and the fair management after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in Saxony, the state where Leipzig Book Fair is based.

Cancelling Germany’s second-largest book fair is a bitter blow for the industry which traditionally uses Leipzig as an opportunity to introduce new authors and their spring lists to an enthusiastic public.