BOOKFEST – the festival of the Frankfurter Buchmesse

October is all about literature and networking.

Frankfurt, 05.10.2017 – Building on last year, this year the Frankfurter Buchmesse (11-15 October 2017) is expanding its activities beyond the exhibition grounds. “BOOKFEST is an open platform in the city of Frankfurt for events around literature and other content from the creative industries. Culture and literature lovers, digital pioneers and creative minds, the entire publishing world, fair guests as well as Frankfurt locals are all warmly welcome at all of the events”, says Markus Gogolin, Director Strategic Marketing at the Frankfurter Buchmesse, summing up the concept. “With BOOKFEST, our aim for the coming years is to provide a stage – beyond the exhibition grounds – for publishers, authors and exciting networks in the industry”, adds Lars Birken-Bertsch, Director Business Development.

New: the BOOKFEST BISTRO
This year, the official opening of the festival will take place on 10 October in the BOOKFEST BISTRO (NM57, Neue Mainzer Str. 57). Here, author Edouard Louis (published by S. Fischer Verlag) will present his manifesto for a new kind of literature. Writer Julia Encke (Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung or F.A.S.) will host the evening and Heinrich Schmidt-Henkel will translate and read out the text. On Wednesday, Sonja Heiss will read from her novel Rimini; F.A.S.-writer Julia Dettke will moderate the discussion. On Thursday, BISTRO visitors will celebrate 50 years of Trikont – the history of Germany’s oldest independent record label – with Franz Dobler, Christof Meueler and Markus Naegele; Eric Pfeil will provide the evening’s musical accompaniment. “Täglich alles – neue Statusmeldungen von Stefanie Sargnagel” (“Everything daily – new status reports from Stefanie Sargnagel”) is the title of the conversation that will take place between Stefanie Sargnagel and Tobias Rüther on Friday evening, while Saturday will be dedicated to “Die Probleme der anderen” (“Other people’s problems”); this conversation between Theresia Enzensberger and Friederike Haupt will be moderated by Rainer Schmidt, Editor of Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung Quarterly (F.A.Q.). All events, including opening night, begin at 9 pm. Before, beginning at 6 pm, guests can recover from the hustle and bustle of the fair and recharge over tapas and drinks in the BISTRO.

Meeting point for the industry after the fair: BOOKFEST LOUNGE
Like last year, in 2017 the BOOKFEST LOUNGE (Bar AMP, Gallusanlage 2) will once again be the meeting point for the industry’s next generation, design lovers and digital creatives – a place where they can meet to talk and celebrate together over drinks. Every evening features a different publishing network. Wednesday starts with Pub’n’Pub (#pubnpub), the popular meet-up series held in different German and international locations. On the Thursday of the fair, “Byte The Book” will bring together a community of publishers from around the world. And, on Friday night, just like last year, magazine makers around Indiecon will provide the entertainment – both in terms of content and music.

BOOKFEST NIGHT on the Saturday of the fair: Frankfurt celebrates books, creativity and dialogue!
On Saturday, 14 October, BOOKFEST finally reaches its peak: Together with the association Initiative Gastronomie Frankfurt e.V., the bars and restaurants of the city’s Bahnhofsviertel district will open their doors to literature for BOOKFEST NIGHT. At Falafel 1818 (Münchener Str. 38), for example, author Jey Jey Glünderling (published by Weissbooks) will perform slam poetry, while Torsten Seifert (Klett-Cotta) will set out in the footsteps of legendary author B. Traven at Chez IMA (Niddastr. 58). At Plank (Elbestr. 15), Patricia Hempel will read from her novel “Metrofolklore” (Klett-Cotta), in which she depicts a very special love story. You can come see the poetry slam collective Main Slam e.V. in the Donkey Bar (Taunusstr. 21). In addition, BOOKFEST NIGHT visitors can also experience literature up close at Yok Yok (Münchener Str. 32), Walon & Rosetti (Moselstr. 15) and Maxie Eisen (Münchener Str. 18). To round it all off, ARTE Concert will welcome two superb musicians for a concert at the Frankfurt club ZOOM (Brönnerstr. 5-9) at 8.00 pm: US soul titan Cody ChesnuTT will swing by, as will Irma, the French singer-songwriter originally from Cameroon.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung (F.A.S.) is the exclusive media partner of BOOKFEST. Other partners include AMP, Chez IMA, Donkey Bar, Falafel 1818, Heyne Hardcore, Indiecon, Initiative der Gastronomen Frankfurt e.V., Verlage Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Klett-Cotta, lector books, Main Slam e.V., Maxie Eisen, NM57, Rowohlt, S. Fischer, Salis Verlag, Satyr Verlag, Trikont, Plank, Pub’n’Pub, ORBANISM, Walon & Rosetti, Weissbooks and Yok Yok.

About the Frankfurter Buchmesse
The Frankfurter Buchmesse is the international publishing industry’s biggest trade fair – with over 7,150 exhibitors from more than 100 countries, around 278,000 visitors, over 4,000 events and approximately 10,000 accredited journalists and bloggers - in attendance. It also gathers key players from other media, including the film and games industries. Since 1976, the Frankfurter Buchmesse has featured an annual Guest of Honour country, which showcases its book market, literature and culture to attendees in a variety of ways. The Frankfurter Buchmesse organises the participation of German publishers at around 20 international book fairs and hosts trade events throughout the year in major international markets. With its Business Club, the Frankfurter Buchmesse offers essential services and an ideal setting for the activities of publishers, entrepreneurs, pioneers, experts and visionaries. The Frankfurter Buchmesse is a subsidiary of the German Publishers & Booksellers Association. https://www.buchmesse.de(opens in a new window)

Contact for the media:
Press & Corporate Communications Frankfurter Buchmesse
Katja Böhne, Vice President Marketing & Communications, tel.: +49 (0) 69 2102-138, press@book-fair.com(opens in a new window)
Jördis Hille, PR Manager, tel.: +49 (0) 69 2102-271, hille@book-fair.com(opens in a new window)
> Press information online >https://www.buchmesse.de/en/press/press-releases(opens in a new window)
> Photos in print quality >https://www.buchmesse.de/en/press/press-material(opens in a new window)