In Pictures: Sharjah International Book Fair opens amid precautions

The 39th edition of Sharjah International Book Fair opened for public with the precationary measures. Book lovers started flipping through thousands of new as well as older titles as one of the world’s biggest book fairs, Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF), opened doors at Expo Centre Sharjah.

As the book fair’s cultural events and inspiring talks go virtual, more than 80,000 books in over 30 languages will be exhibited in-person at Expo Centre Sharjah.

This year, the 11-day SIBF is being held under precautions such as masks, temperature checks, social distancing and regular sanitisation for COVID-19.

Some of this year’s biggest names virtually attending SIBF include American rapper and social media star Prince Ea; Canadian writer Yann Martel, perhaps best known for his Life of Pi novel; and Elisabetta Dami, Italian creator of the Geronimo Stilton children’s book series.

A Sharjah Police staff wears a Smart Thermal Scanner Helmet at Sharjah International Book Fair. About 20 police patrols and a number of drones have been deployed to monitor compliance with Covid-19 safety measures. Officers and volunteers on the ground will be reminding visitors to wear their face masks and keep a safe distance from others.

Patrols have also been stationed around Expo Centre Sharjah to organise traffic movement for the fair’s visitors.

The latest edition is being held under the theme ‘The World Reads from Sharjah’. However, international writers are participating only online while local authors will attend in person under COVID-19 precautions. The book fair will also see talks by Indian author and politician Shashi Tharoor and novelist Ravinder Singh.

Social distancing signs, thermal scanners and sanitisation tunnels have been set up at all entry and exit points.

Visitors who arrive at their booked time slot will be given coloured wristbands to monitor the duration of their stay at the venue. They have a maximum of three hours to enjoy the fair.

The literary and cultural programme designed for the 11-day event this year is bringing together 1,024 publishers from 73 countries; and 60 renowned Arab and international authors from 19 countries. They will participate in 64 events and activities in an online and offline format.

Sharjah Police Chief Brigadier Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, at the Sharjah International Book Fair.

Visitors at a stall during the 39th edition of Sharjah International Book Fair which opened for public with the precationary measures. Last year saw a record 2.52 million visitors at SIBF, said to be the world’s third biggest book fair.

The SBA has also set up a Covid-19 testing clinic for the screening of publishers and staff.

Visits capped at 5,000 people per batch after registering online under COVID-19 measures.

Visitors at the Sharjah International Book Fair.