ZAGREB, November 15, 2020 - The 43rd international book fair Interliber, postponed this month due to coronavirus, will be held on 23-28 March 2021, Zagreb Fair has announced.

The new dates have been agreed with Croatia's leading publishers and booksellers.

In order to protect all participants in the event, Zagreb Fair says it will ensure all safety measures for the March dates in line with guidelines issued by the national and Zagreb civil protection authorities and the Croatian Institute of Public Health.

The 43rd Interliber was to have taken place on November 10-15. All the cancelled activities are being held online and in libraries across Croatia as part of the "A book to everyone and everywhere" project, while authors are being presented on Croatian Television's Channel 3 and on the YouTube channel of the Croatian Chamber of Commerce association of publishers and libraries.

November 2, 2020 – Due to the worsening of the epidemiological situation in Zagreb and all of Croatia, the biggest book fair in Croatia won't be held this year. The organisers announced that Interliber Zagreb is canceled, but publishers and booksellers have responded with an online project.

For the first time in 43 years, the well-known Zagreb book fair, Interliber, will not gather book lovers at the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebački Velesajam). The fair was supposed to be held in accordance with the COVID-19 measures, but organisers announced on Monday, November 2, 2020, that the entire fair was being canceled. So far, the fair has not been in question, and the organisers recently announced that they would still hold it in compliance with all epidemiological measures, which they have planned in detail and published on their website. However, the situation with the coronavirus pandemic has worsened in Zagreb, but also in all of Croatia, which is why they decided, at least for now, to cancel the fair.

"Due to the [worsening of the] epidemiological situation, and following the recommendations of the National Civil Protection Headquarters and the Civil Protection Headquarters of the City of Zagreb, Interliber, the 43rd International Book Fair, which was supposed to take place from 10 to 15 November 2020, is unfortunately postponed. The new date will be set in accordance with the calming of the epidemiological situation, and we ask esteemed exhibitors and citizens for understanding. Let's stay responsible," reads the statement on their Facebook event.

As Hina reports, in an official letter to the publishers, it is pointed out that the new situation will be analysed this week with the representatives of the Association of Publishers and Bookstores at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce (ZNK), and several term options will be jointly considered in order to hold the fair as soon as possible, in accordance with the calming of the epidemiological situation, as well as the health risk for exhibitors and visitors.

Anticipating the possibility of such a situation, and in order to at least partially reduce the loss of income due to the non-maintenance of Interliber, the ZNK has been working for two months on preparations for the "A book for Everyone and Everywhere" project, which, as the ZNK President Slavko Kozina explains, will transfer Interliber's activities to online platforms, bookstores, and HRT3.

"Expecting problems, we were preparing alternatives in parallel that were epidemiologically and economically responsible," Kozina told Hina. He explained that this is a platform called "A book for everyone and everywhere", and includes a common website, where online shopping will be done, and includes popular fair prices in all bookstores throughout the Republic of Croatia (therefore, over 100 bookstores), and the "Premium program" run by Croatian editors, which includes the organisation of a "Promoter with a writer" meeting to present new books.

Everything will be streamed on the ZNK website, that is, on the third program of Croatian Radio Television (HRT3).

"In other words, we will have Interliber dislocated to the online world, to bookstores, and to HRT3," Kozina said.

The entire project is organised by ZNK HGK (Croatian Chamber of Commerce) and in co-organisation with the Ministry of Culture and the City of Zagreb, and the public will be informed about the details of the project at a press conference to be held by the end of this week.

"Publishers and booksellers are communicating with each other and everything will be published soon. We're sorry because we supported this project until the last minute, and we want to transfer at least a little of that 'crowd', where 120,000 people came to Interliber every year, into this story. What's good is that this time people in Metkovićcwill be able to buy books at good prices, hear new things from writers and I think that with this, we'll respond in the best possible way to the non-maintenance of Interliber," said Kozina.

October 23, 2020 – The Zagreb Book Fair Interliber will continue its tradition and be held from November 10 to November 15, 2020, at the Zagreb Fair (Zagrebački velesajam).

For the 43rd year in a row, Zagreb will host the well-known international Interliber book fair. As announced by the organizers, during the six days, the Interliber book fair will be a hot spot for all lovers of books and the written word.

However, due to the current situation with the coronavirus pandemic, for this often crowded event, all security measures have been prepared to stay safe in this realm of books.

Namely, the passages between the exhibition spaces will be widened to four meters and the number of pavilions in which the fair will be held will be increased. A larger number of entrances and exits will be provided for each pavilion, and visitors' body temperature will be measured without contact at each entrance.

Due to the maintenance of the safe flow of people, the number of visitors will be measured at the entrance and it will be limited. Also, visitors are recommended to move in one direction. Of course, wearing a mask is mandatory for all visitors, and disinfectants will be provided in all pavilions.

Interliber is the largest literary event in Croatia and a platform for the promotion of books, writers, reading, science, and knowledge that brings together the most important publishers and bookstores with a rich book offer of current titles.

Despite the uncertain situation with the pandemic, Interliber's 43-year-long tradition will continue, and all the book lovers will be able to find a long-desired book at an affordable price or get all the necessary literature for school.

The fair will be open for visitors from 10 am to 9 pm every day, and during the weekend until 10 pm. The entrance to the fair is free.

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