With Germany just having passed 10 million cases, and averaging over 200,000 new cases per day, it begs the question how many trade parties and how many of the public will be blasé enough to attend a crowded book fair just because they now legally can?
As a public-facing event the Leipzig Book Fair does not bear much comparison to its heavyweight trade counterpart the Frankfurt Buchmesse, but Leipzig will be watched closely across Europe and beyond this year as the first major publishing event to be in-person as the Covid-19 restrictions are relaxed.
Set for March 17-20 it would appear any concessions to digital are now shelved as the event organisers rush to sell floor-space and tickets to what is likely to be a hesitant trade and public.
The timing is less then serendipitous, with Germany having just this week passed ten million Covid-19 cases, and currently seeing over 200,000 new cases per day and recording over 150 Covid-related deaths per day.
While this is predicted to peak around end February that leaves a scant two weeks or so until the fair is set to commence, and it begs the question how many trade parties and how many of the public will be blasé enough to attend a crowded book fair just because they now legally can?
