Book lovers shed an extra tear these days, because the Book Fair will not take place in 2020. Last year the book festival attracted more than 120,000 interested people to the Antwerp Expo. Every year, readers can browse through the extensive Flemish and international literary offer and get the chance to meet their favorite authors. In addition, the fair is an important extra boost for sales during the end-of-year period.
In May, organizer announced Boek.be already indicates that there will be no Book Fair this year. The corona virus and the additional financial challenges made it impossible to realize the fair. At the end of September, the organization even threatened to go bankrupt, many employees had already been fired. Boek.be runs almost entirely on the income from the Boekenbeurs, including stand money from the publishers and income from visitors. The annual budget is 2.2 million euros.
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