Approximately 8,000 book titles printed in Moldova and Romania will be presented at the International Book Fair 2016 that will be staged in Chisinau on August 31 – September 4. For the first time this year, Romania’s book fair Bookfest will be extended to take place in Chisinau as well, IPN reports.

“This year we tried to make the International Book Fair special and to operate an extension of the greatest and most prestigious book fair of Romania – Bookfest,” Minister of Culture Monica Babuc told a news conference. It is a dedication to the celebration of the 25th anniversary of the declaration of independence and an approach designed to show the pro-European view of the cultural industries of Moldova. This approach is proper to two countries, one of which became an EU member, while the other one aspires to enter the EU.

The International Book Fair will bring together 44 publishing houses from both sides of the Prut River. There will be presented about 50,000 books, many of which will be sold at half of the bookstore price. The event will include meetings with writers and workshops for Romanian and Moldovan editors.

President of the Union of Editors of Moldova Gheorghe Prini said that no prizes will be awarded this year. ”Awards to authors, editors and all the participants in the fair will be provided by the visitors of the event, our readers, because we make books not for prizes, but for the readers,” he stated.

The fair will take place in the central pavilion of the Exhibitions Center “Moldexpo” between 10am and 8pm.