Friday, November 23, 2012

Record participation in Sharjah International Book Fair 2012

Pakistan News & Features Services

The 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012, held at the Sharjah Expo Centre from November 7 to 17, created many new records. More than 600,000 visitors were reported to have turned up in the 11-day event and out of them 80,000 were students. 

The record-breaking feat was achieved both in the number of visitors as well as international participation with 924 publishing houses from 62 countries displaying over 1.5 million titles across various stalls and pavilions. 

As many as 90 book signing sessions were also organized during the course of the SIBF 2012 which contributed significantly in making the event a very successful one. 

The SIBF 2012 also witnessed numerous seminars, lectures and interactive activities being held under cultural, cookery, and children’s programmes that provided interactive sidelights to the main event. 

The cultural programme, which included discussions and lectures by famous authors and scholars, highlighted topics in the areas of politics, philosophy, history, art, music, and literature. 

The children’s programme also turned out to be a success story with the active participation of the students having converged from over 150 schools from across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

The School children were provided the opportunity to enjoy and participate in over 200 activities combining culture, knowledge and entertainment. 

Several workshops on art, besides story-telling sessions, magic tricks, and creative activities also played a major role in the event’s success. 

The cookery programme also drew large crowds with multi-cultural offerings, recipes, and live demonstrations. It hosted several famous chefs from around the world including Mridula Balijekar from Britain, Manal Al Alem who specialises in Arabic cuisine, and free-lance chef Gerard Baker. 

The cooking demonstrations turned out to be extremely popular with the families who gathered to watch several chefs prepare their favourite dishes and sharing their cooking secrets.

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