Frankfurt Book Fair 2016 – Day One: Books, Booths and David Hockney!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016

The Frankfurt Book Fair, held once a year in Frankfurt, Germany (usually five days in October), is the largest international gathering of publishing professionals in the world. The Frankfurter Buchmesse truly gathers the global book publishing industry’s experts and provides the most important marketplace for books, media, rights and licences worldwide. Those who gather are publishers, booksellers, agents, film producers and authors, and this year, for the first time, a representative from CultureHoney.com : )

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016

With attendance marked at over 250,000, the sheer size was slightly overwhelming! However, as a veteran of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, E3 in Los Angeles, and SxSW in Austin, TX, this representative marched on! A book-lover to the heart, and now a weekly online magazine and book publisher by trade, one of the first quotes that really blessed me to the core was from Heinrich Riethmüller, President of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association, from the opening night:

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

He said that,“In our times of division, dissent and confrontation, it is important for the book and media industry to perform its role. Now, more than ever, society needs strong and independent communicators of ideas who are able to question and analyse the information and events. Books underpin the spread of knowledge, stories and experiences. Never have book people and cultural professionals been more important than they are today.”

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Topics ranging from serious historical and faith-based books to fashion, architecture and home design:

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Bob Dylan had just been announced winner of the Nobel Peace Prize! His book is sure to garner much interest!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Then there were the booths!!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Interesting displays:

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

And tons of children’s books!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Important topics were discussed throughout the fair – this one was on the integration of refugees in Europe into the public school system:

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

And a special guest and highlight of the fair was David Hockney, one of the most influential British artists of our time, who spoke at the fair, introducing his 500 page, large-format folio book, published by Taschen, “SUMO A Bigger Book”.

Frankfurt Book Fair, 2016!

Image by: Perngfey Wong

A SUMO sized Book Fair! Check out the photo gallery below for more images!
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