Over 30,000 book titles from Moldova and Romania will be on display at the 6th Sixth Bookfest International Fair. Hosted by Mediacor, the fair will be inaugurated on Wednesday and will run until September 3. During this period, more than 90 book launches will take place, and visitors will have the opportunity to meet the authors. The details were presented during a press conference today.

The Moldovan National Library is one of Bookfest’s traditional partners. Its general director Elena Pintilei noted that Bookfest is the largest book fair in the Romanian language held in Moldova. The event is also extremely important in that it takes place right ahead of the new school year. Visitors will be able to purchase books at promotional prices. Another important aspect is that both Moldovan and Romanian publishing houses donate part of the publications on display to the National Library. If the Library already has the books, they are sent to public libraries across the country.

“I'm very glad that this year, calligraphy workshops and other workshops that will be organized together with plastic artists, but also other famous personalities, will bring children closer to books, writing, and reading. Of course, some of the events will also take place in cultural institutions, such as the National Museum of Literature, in some public libraries, in some State University lecture halls”, said Elena Pintilei.

Mihai Mitrică, executive director of the Romanian Publishers Association, mentioned that culture personalities from both banks of the Prut will participate in the Bookfest.

Gheorghe Prini, president of the Moldovan Publishers’ Union, declared that a book exists only if it is read. And how many books are published depends on the readers, the culture of a people depends on them. “If a book is not read, it does not exist. Please make a book become nation a book”, said Gheorghe Prini.

“The importance of reading is hard to overestimate. No matter how much we talk, it will be little and our task is to talk as much as possible about the importance of reading and about the fact that if in a person’s life, at a certain age, certain books are missing, these slips cannot be compensated by the following years of life. So, it is very important to have books in our society, in our communities. It is very important to have diversity and collections of books catering to various groups of readers, starting with children”, said Minister of Culture Sergiu Prodan.

The 2023 edition of the International Fair “Bookfest” Chisinau is held with the financial support of the Department for Relations with the Republic of Moldova, the Ministry of Culture of Romania and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Moldova. This year, the event is held under the high patronage of Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis.