According to the organizers of the Vilnius Book Fair, event, which started as just a place to sell books, has now become a large-scale cultural festival, in which both Lithuanian and foreign authors, musicians and other artists participate. According to them, the program of this year's fair pays special attention to current affairs - the war is being discussed in Ukraine, the future of books and the influence of artificial intelligence on literature and other important aspects.
"We welcome this fair with the firm conviction that the Vilnius Book Fair is a platform not only for literature, but also for presenting important public discussions," the organizers unanimously asserted at the press conference.
New content in traditional formats
"The advance sale of tickets shows that this year's Vilnius Book Fair will surpass or even overtake the fairs of the pre-crisis period", - at the press conference, scheduled for February 22-25. said to present the 24th Vilnius Book Fair LITEXPO director Jonas Sakalauskas.
Lolita Varanavičienė, the president of the Lithuanian Publishers Association, also agreed with the expressed optimism about the returning spirit of the Vilnius Book Fair and the attention of the people, also emphasizing that the Vilnius Book Fair is becoming more and more important not only for publishers, but also for the entire cultural community, even in difficult times.
"Over the past few years, we have gone through a number of trials - the pandemic, the start of the war in Ukraine and other events. However, the book fair has always remained a place where different layers of society meet, where literature becomes a bridge between various ideas and viewpoints. And this year it will be really abundant in all senses", said L. Varanavičienė.
According to her, the Vilnius Book Fair has maintained the same format over the years, which is time-tested and based on which there was room for new content and approaches.
"A decade ago at the fair, we read "Metus" by Kristijonas Donelaitis for 5 hours, then Kęstutis Navakas, Leonidas Donskis, Jūratė Baranova presented their books to the readers. It seems that not long ago those people were walking with us between the stands, and now they have already left", recalled the president of the Lithuanian Publishers Association and added that the fair becomes not only an event about what is happening now, but also turns into a place of literary memory.
Recalling the very first Vilnius book fair, one of its founders pointed out more aspects that have changed dramatically.
"Back then, there was very timid talk about selling books on the Internet. To me, for example, it seemed complete nonsense, because you can't buy without using it. Also, in those days people went to the fair basically to buy cheap books and get free pamphlets. Well, the publishers themselves looked at the book fair in a very peculiar way, there was less talk about the content of the books," L. Varanavičienė recalled with a smile.
She emphasized that the content of the modern Vilnius book fair, and especially this year's, has become as wide and diverse as ever. Starting with traditional meetings with writers from Lithuania and abroad and ending with discussions or even concerts.
More music and reading for everyone
The pluralism and versatility of the event was also emphasized by Inga Davidonienė, director of the Lithuanian Audiosensory Library. She was happy that the Vilnius Book Fair is becoming more and more open to various social groups.
"Our participation in the event is a great opportunity to present technologies and methods that help disabled people enjoy literature. I think this shows that the fair is really a meeting place for various social bubbles", said I. Davidonienė.
On her part, Agnė Begetė, director of the Lithuanian Association of Related Rights AGATA, drew attention to the links between music and literature, which will be highlighted even more this year during various events of the fair.
"Music and literature often go hand in hand, and at this year's fair we aim to emphasize this synergy even more by inviting various performers and organizing discussions in which both writers and musicians will participate," said A. Begetė, adding that she was extremely pleased to know, that the Music Hall and, in general, the musical part of the fair has become a really significant part, which is visited even from abroad in order to get acquainted with the trends of the music industry.
We encourage you to visit not only on Saturday
LITEXPO manager Jonas Sakalauskas, speaking about logistical and organizational challenges, emphasized that the event, which has attracted a lot of interest from visitors, requires particularly careful organization of traffic and visitor flows.
"We pay a lot of attention to making every visitor feel as comfortable as possible, and that means that much public transport planning as well as the organization of parking spaces are at the top of our priorities", said J. Sakalauskas.
Therefore, according to him, it will be possible to visit this year's Vilnius Book Fair not only by car, but also by taking a free bus, which will take passengers from the entrances to the Vilnius Cathedral Square to the fair starting at 9 am. morning
Speaking about the number of visitors to the fair and the distribution of traffic, J. Sakalauskas reminded that it should not be forgotten that the Vilnius Book Fair is not only held on Saturday.
"This day of the weekend has the most visitors, but I encourage you to consider visiting the fair not necessarily on that day. For example, on Thursday, which is dedicated to libraries, or on Sunday, when the flow of visitors is somewhat lower," said the head of LITEXPO.
Learn more about February 22-25. The Vilnius Book Fair, organized by the Lithuanian Publishers Association, the Lithuanian Institute of Culture and the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center LITEXPO, will be held at the LITEXPO Center and can be accessed by visiting its website. The interactive program presented there will help you decide in advance which fair events you want to visit the most.
