International Book Fair launches 1st edition with over 10,000 books

The first Macao International Book Fair 2019 was inaugurated yesterday at The Venetian Macao. The book fair, which will runs July 4 to 7, showcases over 60 participating publishers from more than 20 countries and regions and hosts more than 10,000 books.

Exhibitors from Portuguese-speaking countries include publishers from Portugal, Brazil and Angola, notably Editora Presença from Portugal and Editora Senac São Paulo from Brazil. Meanwhile, 20 publishers have come from mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

The event is divided into four themed exhibition areas, namely the “Exhibition Area of Food and Wine Books,” the “Exhibition Area of Chinese Publications,” the “International Exhibition Area” and the “Reading Experience Area.”

The first Macao International Book Fair also features a series of activities, including the Salon Area and the Chef’s Kitchen which are open to the public free of charge.

Twenty-four activities will be held in the Salon Area, including the 24th Gourmand World Cookbook Awards Ceremony, cultural exchange sessions and book launches.

The organizers invited three chefs who will host live cooking demonstrations at the Chef’s Kitchen, where a total of 21 sessions with different themes will be presented.

The Macao International Book Fair 2019 will also feature the second “Encounter in Macao – Arts and Cultural Festival between China and Portuguese-speaking countries” festival.

The event was jointly organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Macau (IC) and the China National Publications Import & Export (Group) Corporation. Despite the collaboration, the IC is bearing all the costs associated with the book fair.

According to IC Director Mok Ian Ian, the Macau government paid approximately MOP4 million to organize the event.

“It’s paid for by the Macau government,” said Mok, justifying that “the exhibition hall is 3,000 square meters and there are so many exhibitors and writers.”

“[The money] also covers food and accommodation for the guests,” she added.

Regarding the anticipated number of visitors to the book fair, Mok said, “Since we have never held such large-scale book fair, we will report the number of visitors later.”