Cape Town Book Fair
Releases & News

Announcement
Sep 16, 2011

Dear Exhibitors and friends of Cape Town Book Fair


After its inception in 2005, Cape Town Book Fair grew rapidly to become the premier book fair in Sub-Saharan Africa. At its peak it attracted 57000 visitors and 364 exhibitors from 34 countries. Cape Town Book Fair has become the best venue for South-South co-operation for exhibitors from Sub-Saharan Africa, the Arab world and Asia to meet and trade in rights while providing a festive mood for readers and authors from South Africa and the rest of the continent. The book fair also attracts exhibitors and visitors from all over the world.

After 5 episodes of the fair, it became necessary for us to review it in line with stakeholder expectations and feedback. We had to consider what exhibitors and other participants in the fair were asking for. After the review process we decided the following:

  • The book fair would be held once every two years at the Cape Town Convention Centre. This     is in line with the local industry’s production capacity.

  • The new format book fair would start in 2012 together with the 29th International Publishers Association (IPA) Congress. This should boost attendance of the fair and give it a powerful new start.

  • The fair would be held over 3 days with the morning of the first day dedicated to a trade day and the fair opening to the public from 2:00 pm and running into the evening until 10:00pm. This will afford trade visitors an opportunity to interact in a professional environment and give visitors an opportunity to enjoy the fair late into the Friday night. 

  • The 29th IPA Congress will start on the 12th and end on the 14th of June 2012 while the book fair will start on the 15th and end on the 17th of June 2012. Important Congress delegates and speakers will be utilised in the book fair programme, giving participants an opportunity to interact with global leaders in the book sector. 

Double Attraction with the 29th IPA Congress

The 29th IPA Congress will be held in Cape Town from the 12th to the 14th of June 2012, the first time that it will be held in Africa. The 29th IPA Congress will be the first IPA event where the Congress and the Copyright Symposium will be held together and promises the most comprehensive programme that has been staged on publishing and the book sector. It will be the first time that the Congress has been held in Africa in over 100 years. The IPA Congress attracts between 600 and 1000 delegates. The speakers at the fair are top professionals and policy makers in the book sector. Some of the delegates will stay for the book fair, hopefully making it the best attended book fair ever. Some of the speakers will be involved in the book fair programme.

New Management of the Fair

We have partnered with Thebe Exhibitions, a leading events and exhibitions management company to enhance the quality of the event and the experience of exhibitors. Thebe manages a number of other top award winning exhibition titles, including Decorex SA, Business Opportunities and Franchise Expo (BOFE) and Sports and Events Tourism Exchange (SETE). While our formal partnership with Frankfurt Book Fair has ended, our collaboration continues. We will continue working with Frankfurt Book Fair to offer our exhibitors a world class experience at Cape Town Book Fair.

We look forward to welcoming you at the next Cape Town Book Fair where you will also have an opportunity to attend the prestigious 29th IPA Congress.

For further information visit us on our website at www.capetownbookfair.co.za or contact Sadika Ahmed at ahmeds@capetownbookfair.co.zaor Nicole De Klerk at info@capetownbookfair.co.za
For the29th IPA Congress visit www.ipa2012.co.za, Emailipa2012@globalconf.co.za

Kind regards

Brian Wafawarowa

Executive Director Publishers Association South Africa