A key event in the main performance venue at the 2025 Bologna Children’s Book Fair, the Illustrators Cafe. Image: BCBF
By Porter Anderson, Editor-in-Chief | @Porter_Anderson
The 2026 Bologna: April 13 to 16
With the 62nd edition of the world’s largest trade show focused primarily on children’s and young people’s publishing closing Thursday (April 3), Elena Pasoli‘s Bologna Children’s Book Fair and Jacks Thomas‘ Bologna Book Plus report today (April 4) that the show has closed with a five-percent gain in attendance among trade visitors.
A total 33,318 trade visitors are reported to have attended.
The show’s exhibition floors fielded 1,577 exhibitors from some 95 nations and regions. Newly participating markets were Albania, Azerbaijan, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Iceland, Madagascar, Malta, North Macedonia, Peru, Saudi Arabia, Sri Lanka, and Thailand.
What worked out to be more than 500 events curated by the fair and its exhibitors—and more than 100 “underground” events put together in more ad-hoc ways at multiple venues—the show also was drawing more than 2 million pageviews to its voluminous site, those views coming from more than 180 international markets.
In rights, the fair reports more than 600 meetings held on its trading floors in all sectors, including the new Games Center and TV/Film Rights Center. Bologna Book Plus, the non-children’s extension, was sold out with a waiting list for the first time. Rights were traded among its 56 participating countries. With an AI summit and many seminars featuring industry leading personalities, “BBPlus” has made a fifth-year step it its own growth as an option for spring trading.
Norway is to be guest of honor in 2026 at Bologna (April 13 to 16), and Bologna is produced with the support of the ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation (MAECI) and ITA, the Italian Trade Agency.
Antonio Bruzzone
In a comment on the fair’s success, Antonio Bruzzone, general director of BolognaFiere, says, “An extraordinary edition of Bologna Children’s Book Fair has come to an end, a fair that continues to grow in participation and quality.
“The success of the exhibitor numbers from all over the world is the result of the scouting work that the fair carries out, a constant and global commitment: being present worldwide, all year round, is essential to understand the trends of markets, including emerging ones, and to build new relationships.
“We’re also honored to continue our collaboration with the United Nations, a prestigious partner with whom we share a commitment to sustainability, both in editorial content and in industrial processes, a theme that is increasingly crucial for the future of publishing and beyond.”
The fair was dampened at times by chilly temperatures, though mostly free of precipitation. Next year’s dates will be greatly welcomed by the world publishing cohort of traveling trade professional journalists, having this year been too close to London Book Fair at one end and Sharjah Booksellers Conference at the other.
There’s a chance that the newly started tramway construction in the city will have made progress. One of Bologna’s abiding difficulties is public transportation, especially in taxis, and this year, beyond anyone’s control, this was accentuated by tramway construction on many roadways.
More on Bologna Children’s Book Fair is here, more on children’s books is here, more on the Italian market is here, and more on world publishing’s trade shows and book fairs is here.