The Lisbon Book Fair will reach its maximum size and become more accessible

This year’s Lisbon Book Fair will be its largest ever and will reach its capacity limit with 350 pavilions, two new spaces, extended opening hours and a strong commitment to accessibility for people with special needs.

The 94th Lisbon Book Fair (FLL), as always, will take place in Parque Eduardo VII in Lisbon from May 29 to June 16, reaching its maximum limit this year in terms of growth, which leaves the organizers with a difficult task. challenge for the future, Pedro Sobral, president of the Portuguese Association of Publishers and Booksellers (APEL), told Lusa.

The problem is that, despite the fact that we are at the limit, requests for new participants continue to grow, which in the future may mean sacrificing the allocation of some pavilions, because moving the book fair from the Parque Eduardo VII is out of the question. , said the person in charge, considering that “only FLL makes sense here.”

“Parque Eduardo VII is the cornerstone of this fair, it is one of the most important factors in all this success, because it is in the center, because it is open air, because, despite the presence of ramps and rough terrain, it is a place where people like to hang out,” he said.

Noting that in addition to books, there are music shows, an open-air cinema, restaurants, terraces, as well as parking spaces and transport accessibility that justify keeping the fair in this space, Pedro Sobral said that it would be preferable to “sacrifice or at least make the task more difficult distribution of pavilions, “always giving priority to new participants.”

“Editorial diversity is also one of the fundamental variables for increasing readership, and therefore knowing and being confident that we do not want to leave there and that this is where the fair should be, we will have to face this problem. , and we will start working probably as early as July to deal with this as best we can,” he said.

Given the scale that FLL has achieved this year, there are 10 more pavilions planned than last year, for a total of 350, with 960 editorial brands represented by 140 exhibitors and 85 thousand titles available.

The main focus this year is on improving accessibility for people with limited mobility, thanks to a protocol signed with Access Lab (a company that works on the issue of accessibility in Portugal regarding the right to culture of people with disabilities) for the next three years. .

After investing in sustainability, the organization is now working on the issue of inclusion and how to make visits and attendance easier for people with limited mobility.

“There are a number of tasks that take time to solve and therefore a number of studies need to be carried out, but this year we will have, for example, more bathrooms with access for these people with limited mobility,” said Pedro Sobral, adding that in response In response to families’ requests, there will also be changing tables.

In addition, ramps will be better marked, and the Access Lab will provide “very intensive training for both staff and APEL participants so that they can provide adequate information to people with limited mobility,” the person in charge said.

The software part will also be more accessible thanks to a specific program of activities with Portuguese sign language and the presence of a color alphabet for people with color blindness, which, among other things, helps people navigate the squares that are identified by color.

In this regard, the President of APEL noted that two new event spaces will appear, which will also meet the growing demand.

“Last year we had 2,600 events and […] on Friday of last week we already had 2,190 events scheduled, when normally half of the events are scheduled during the fair itself, so we will far exceed the 2,600 events we had last year,” he said.

One of the big news this year is the anticipation of the opening time of the fair, which responds to the request of many families, which will now open at 12:00 on weekdays and 10:00 on weekends and holidays.

Closing time remains at 22:00, except on Saturdays, Fridays and holiday eves, when it closes at 23:00.

As for the number of expected visitors, Pedro Sobral believes that it will reach one million, a number that is “insignificant” in terms of “breaking records.”

“What’s important to us, and therefore to this issue of a million visitors, is that the purpose of the fair and also the driving force for learning and improving reading levels increases because obviously we reach more people, we have There The more people there are, the more likely it is that reading levels will be higher and closer to the European Union,” he said.

This year, FLL is relaunching its “Camping with Stories” initiative, aimed at children, and again building on the initiatives of the National Reading Plan, namely the creation of a “Reading Cabinet”, which provides suggestions according to the profile of the reader, the reader, and again there will be a pavilion ” Donate your books.”