In the Agora during the 2024 Frankfurter Buchmesse, a crowd drawn to a presentation on JS Wonda’s ‘Very Bad Kings.’ Image: FBM, Zino Peterek
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
See also: Frankfurter Buchmesse: Guest of Honor Philippines Unveils Its Plans
Book Sales Permitted All Five Days
Over the weekend, word arrived that Frankfurter Buchmesse‘s (October 15 to 19) tickets now are on sale, and one of the changes this year that will interest many trade visitors is the news that book sales will be permitted throughout the trade show’s five-day run.
Several of the big names being mentioned so far are Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist and author Maria Ressa and Philippine documentary filmmaker Patricia Evangelista in reference to the Guest of Honor Philippines program.
Stages—always evolving—will include Frankfurt Studio; Publishing Perspectives Forum; a Center Stage in Hall 4.1 that will focus on such weighty issues as encroachments on the freedom of expression and artificial intelligence and its implications for publishing; and a return of the International Stage.
Maria Ressa
There’s also a new pop-up stage in the dome-ceilinged Festhalle, that space being dedicated to talks and readings on topics in romantasy, new adult books, and BookTok.
More topics of the week are to include audio trends and book-to-screen development. Included in the price of the ticket is the Frankfurt Kids Conference on opening day, October 15, with a topic this time around of “Children’s Books in a Fragile World.”
Axel Scheffler
Again this year, the three trade-visitor days will open the show, running Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, October 15, 16, and 17. The public will be on the Frankfurt Messe in force for the weekend, with hours on Friday running 10 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. A headliner of that one: the German illustrator Axel Scheffler.
Note that tickets are not available in-person. They must be bought online.
Trade visitor tickets range in price from €28 to €165 (US$32.94 to $194.12), and full ticketing information and registration is here.
More from Publishing Perspectives on Frankfurter Buchmesse is here, more from us on guest of honor programs is here, more on the Philippines’ guest of honor program plans is here, more on the German book and publishing market is here, and more on book fairs and trade shows in the world publishing industry is here.