The 61st Bologna Children’s Book Fair surpasses past records!

The 61st edition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF), together with BolognaBookPlus (BBPlus) and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair/Kids was opened at the BolognaFiere Exhibition Centre on 8 April with a speech by Italian President Sergio Mattarella via live link, addressing the world book community gathered in Bologna and had Slovenia as the Guest of Honour Country.

“We are particularly satisfied with the success of this edition of the fair, a reward for the work carried out throughout the year and confirmation that Bologna stands at the centre of the world publishing market,” said Gianpiero Calzolari, Chairman of BolognaFiere.

The statistics…

1,523 exhibitors gathered in Bologna from approximately 100 countries and regions of the world (new entries include Angola, Belarus, Benin, Bolivia, Cameroon, Colombia, Luxembourg, Mauritius, Monaco, Moldova, Paraguay, the Philippines, Togo, and Uganda). 31,735 trade visitors (up 10% on 2023 figures) took part over the four days of the event in both 385 BCBF events and more than 220 underground events organised by exhibitors at the exhibition centre and around the city. An international fair also in terms of digital and press coverage: page views reached more than 2 million over the past year, from over 190 countries, and journalists from more than 40 countries attended the event.

The highlights…

The Fair is acknowledged on the international scene as both a promoter and showcase for content and its development across the length of the supply chain for publishing for children and young people – from scouting to the sale of rights, from licensing to the trade in copyrights for audio-visual products – but also much more, such as the event specifically for generalist publishing held in collaboration with the Association of Italian Publishers (AIE). This edition once again confirmed Bologna’s position as the world capital of the trade in copyrights and publishing rights, while registering an increase in participation.

Behind the scenes…

This success is a result of the substantial work carried out by the Bologna Children’s Book Fair on the international scene through activities including tours and initiatives that transcend the Bologna event held in the spring and continue throughout the year also the support of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) and ITA – Italian Trade Agency.

Next edition…

The 62nd edition of Bologna Chil dren’s Book Fair is scheduled to take place from March 31 to April 3, 2025. Estonia will be the Guest of Honour Country.

“BCBF 2024, with its ‘sister’ fairs BolognaBookPlus and Bologna Licensing Trade Fair, was wonderful and extraordinary! The enthusiasm ran through the aisles of the fair, the number of exhibitors and visitors this year even exceeded those of 2019. We’re still receiving lots of emails, everyone telling us that they’ve done good business and discovered new talent and new projects. The Guest of Honour Country Slovenia’s programme and exhibition were a great success, as was India’s participation in the BolognaBookPlus limelight. We are also very pleased with the number of countries represented, around 100, a figure that confirms how the Bologna event is truly unmissable for publishers from all over the world. Great success also for the Rights Centre, which this year enjoyed a completely new layout and set-up; the decision to open it up to both children’s books and general publishing agent, scout and professionals proved to be a winner. Excellent results also for the Comics Corner, much larger than last year, and great attention to the BolognaBookPlus programme, and the brand new AudioForum. In short, an excellent edition, which stimulates us to work with even greater enthusiasm for the next one, looking forward to welcoming again the world book community in Bologna from 31 March to 3 April 2025.”

-Elena Pasoli, Director, Bologna Children’s Book Fair

“Bologna was a sunny place this week – both in temperature and temperament. BolognaBookPlus reflected that totally with a great breadth of exhibitors and visitors with India playing a central role – we were delighted to host India in the Limelight and look forward to building on this collaboration.So much business was done, so many connections made and so many books launched – it was altogether a fabulous place to be!”

-Jacks Thomas, Guest Director, BolognaBookPlus

The BOP – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers Of The Year

Created by Bologna Children’s Book Fair in collaboration with the Italian Publishers Association (AIE) and the International Publishers Association (IPA) on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the Fair, every year the BOP – Bologna Prize for the Best Children’s Publishers of the Year acknowledges the best publishers around the world.

The winners for the twelfth edition of the award are: Africa:Yanbow Al Kitab from Morocco; Asia: POPLAR Publishing Co., Ltd. from Japan; Europe: Spanish Mosquito Books Barcelona; North America: Canadian Greystone Kids; Central and South America and Caribbean: Cataplum Libros (Colombia); Oceania;and Huia Publishers from New Zealand.