Romanian city Sfântu Gheorghe holds first book fair in 81 years

Sfântu Gheorghe, a city in the central Romania region known as Szeklerland, hosted the first edition of the book fair and contemporary literature festival SepsiBook between May 26 and May 29 May after an 81-year gap. Roughly 7,000 people attended, representing11% of the total population of the multi-ethnic city.

Organizers of the fair are encouraged by the high turnout. “We can say without hesitation that the book fair and the SepsiBook contemporary literature festival exceeded our expectations,” said deputy mayor Vargha Fruzsina, quoted bycovasnamedia. “It has been 81 years since such an event took place in our area,” he added, highlighting its cultural importance and necessity.

The festival saw 130 guests and over 1,000 children take part in part in roughly 80 events throughout four days. Simultaneously, 40 publishing houses offered their books to would-be buyers, aided by a sizable team of volunteers. The Covasna County library, present at the fair, also reminded visitors of its offering.

Held at the brand new Sepsi Arena, SepsiBook brought people from Întorsura Buzăului, but also from Odorheiul Secuiesc, Brașov or even Cluj-Napoca, according to the organizers.

After a 2-year break mandated by the pandemic, book fairs are once again held in Romania.Bookfest, one of the largest book fairs in Romania, is taking place in Bucharest between June 1 and June 5.

(Photo source: SepsiBook Facebook page)