"This year's Vilnius Book Fair has really regained that legendary atmosphere," says Rūta Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė, one of the organizers of the fair and the executive director of the Lithuanian Publishers Association, after the opening of the biggest literary event of the year in the Baltic States. According to her, the success of the 24th Vilnius Book Fair could be seen already on Thursday, the first day of the fair, when many said that they did not expect so many people.
"Everyone who visited saw that the flow of visitors this year really resembled the pre-pandemic times. Colleagues from LITEXPO calculated that more than 55 people visited the Vilnius Book Fair in four days. people", the interviewer named.
She pointed out that this year the fair was particularly actively visited by those for whom this event free - these are library workers and Ukrainians. In addition, the fair was also particularly full of young readers under the age of 7, who could also participate in the literature festival for free.
According to R. Elijošaitytė-Kaikare, although events and fairs are usually discussed only through the prism of growth and numbers, this should no longer apply to the Vilnius Book Fair. Everyone already knows that this is the biggest event of its kind in the Baltic States, and maybe even in Central Europe. It would be more appropriate to discuss more about how to make it even more convenient and of higher quality.
"The challenge for the fair is not only attracting visitors - their interest is phenomenal, but also ensuring comprehensive comfort, convenience and content. From arrival, resolving logistical hurdles to convenience when events and meetings are already underway. This is the big task for the future fairs", emphasized one of the organizers.
According to her, the number of visitors is no longer the only measure of success, as evidenced by the overwhelming number of positive feedback from visitors and fair participants.
"Both visitors, publishers, and authors noticed that the fair's program is as rich as possible, the topics are interesting, and the moderators are well prepared. The quality bar has been raised a lot this year and everyone has noticed it," said R. Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė.
She says that when naming parts of the fair's content that received excellent feedback, first of all, I want to mention the successfully expanded boundaries by integrating alternative ways of reading or getting to know books and participating in the fair. The Lithuanian audiosensory program prepared a very strong program, and their stand was one of the most visited. It is planned that even more attention will be paid to this at the fair in the future and a different reading will become an integral and extremely important part of this event.
According to R. Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė, another strength and success of this year's event was the Hall of Young Readers.
"From the smallest to teenagers - everyone had activities at this year's event. Library space, Youth Point, creative space Without formulas, creative laboratory, events on stage - the program met everyone's needs. The Hall of Young Readers was discovered by many people - it was constantly full of visitors and pleasant commotion," said the executive director of the Lithuanian Publishers Association about the focus of the fair on young people and families.
Naming the successes of the completed Vilnius book fair, R. Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė asserts that there is no time to rest on one's laurels. Next year's Vilnius Book Fair will be the 25th anniversary, so we want to make it special.
"Now is a great time to think about everything, listen to comments, criticism, positive feedback from participants and visitors and start thinking about next year's fair without waiting too long. We want it to be special, exclusive and convenient for every reader," emphasized R. Elijošaitytė-Kaikarė.
This year's Vilnius Book Fair was organized by the Association of Lithuanian Publishers, the Lithuanian Institute of Culture and the LITEXPO exhibition and congress center.
The first Vilnius book fair was held in 2000. in February. Back then, it fit in just one LITEXPO hall, and only a few dozen participants had their stands. About 50 events took place at the fair. Compared to this year, more than 300 events were held at the Vilnius Book Fair, and more than 340 participants were invited to their stands.
