Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Why Visiting Ongoing Cairo International Book Fair Is Important (With Photos)


Thu 24 Jan 2019 | 11:55 PM
maydaa nadar

By Nour EL-Hoda Fouad and Maydaa Abo El-Nadar

CAIRO, Jan. 25 (SEE) - The Cairo International Book Fair’s headquarter was moved this year to Egypt International Exhibitions and Conferences Center, located in Masr El-Gedida.

The means of transportation towards the Fair's ground had to be more organized. Some of them even left the visitors around a ten-minute walk from the principal gate.

However, the Fair’s 50th edition witnessed a high turnout. Entry was flexible and it only required a ticket. The checkup at the gates was organized and effectively controlled.

After passing the Fair’s first gate, the first and second halls are encountered. A distance from both halls, the third hall, dedicated to guests’ suites and seminars’ rooms, is found.

Moving outside, there is a vast number of various restaurants whose quality is very better than the past years’ ones placed in tents. Spacious areas, with sunshades, plastic tables and chairs are dedicated for the visitors’ commodity. Kids zones include modern and various means of entertainment.

At the road’s sides, military groups, dressed in formal and ancient Egyptian costumes, were performing patriotic songs.

In addition to some entities and ministries, the following countries are participating: Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, South Africa, Greece, Japan, China, Serbia, Lebanon, and Palestine.

For the public to purchase books at low prices, the Fair hosted for the first time three national publishing houses: Dar Al Maaref, Dar Akhbar Al Youm, and Al Ahram. The publishing houses corners are located in the main hall.

As the Arab League is this year’s guest of honor, it obtains the largest suite. A corner there includes a huge book that comprised what press published about the League. Another corner is presenting interactive experience for children, where stories about the Arab countries and their cultures are being narrated in a simple way.

On Wednesday, Minister of Culture Enas Abdel Dayem inaugurated some visual arts’ exhibitions. She started her tour from the first hall and concluded it by a seminar at Sohir Al Kalmawy’s hall.

The seminar included a number of culture’s and literature’s pioneers. It included the song dedicated for the Fair, created by the Fair’s Cultural Officer Shawakt El Masry, composed by Hassan Zaki, and performed by the singer Riham Abdel Hakim.

Afterward, the team that created the song’s video clip was introduced. It was the same team that made a documentary to celebrate the Fair’s golden jubilee. The documentary included scenes about the most important seminars and about the Egyptian and Arab cultural, literary and art remarkable figures that the Fair hosted throughout its 50 editions.