Sharjah International Book Fair registration opens early

The 35th edition of the Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) will not take place until Nov. 4-14, 2016, but registration has already been open for over two months.

The first registrations were open because of high demand from publishers and exhibitors to reserve space at the Expo Center, Sharjah.

The Sharjah Book Authority (SBA) runs the SIBF, which had a world record 1.5 million different book titles from 64 countries displayed at the 2015 edition.

“Due to its prestigious history of almost four decades, SIBF sees continuous growth in the number of visitors and participants as well as in the volume of sales," SBA Chairman Ahmed Bin Rakkad Al Ameri said.  "The Sharjah International Book Fair is witnessing a huge response by publishing houses and cultural organizations to register, exceeding the exhibition area, which means we need to increase the area to accommodate the largest number of outstanding participants. This year we have seen substantial pressure from publishers who want to register for participation in the 34th edition, which will begin on Nov. 4."

Al Ameri said they have received applications from countries from all around the world that were eager to be present at the fair.

"Therefore, we decided to open registration early for the 35th edition to be held next year, to allow publishers who want to participate to submit their application and reserve the exhibition space before it is sold out,” he said.
 
Registration for the fair is open until Aug. 31, 2016, through the SIBF website, but it is expected to reach capacity with participation open to government and semi-government organizations, publishers, distributors, booksellers, e-publishers, and copyright agents, cultural institutions, public libraries, research centers, associations, university libraries and media.