TNPS opened this month with a list of at-risk publishing events that could be cancelled due to the growing threat posed by the Coronavirus, and thus far only two of the list – Brussels and Poznan (respectively Belgium and Poland) have survived the course.

Paris Book Fair now officially cancelled. LBF as good as cancelled. And dozens more global book fairs on the danger list over the next 6 weeks

Romania’s Timișoara Bookfest, set to launch March 12-15, is the latest casualty as the Romanian authorities ban all events of over 1,000 people.

A statement from the Bookfest organisers said,

We regret that we cannot be with the public and the authors with whom we organize the Bookfest Book Fair in Timișoara, but the priority at this moment is the safety of the people. We hope that the situation will return to normal as soon as possible and that the next editions of the Bookfest Book Fair to be carried out without any impediment.

The next Bookfest is the country’s biggest, in Bucharest, and is currently scheduled for end May.

Romania’s 9th Timișoara Bookfest set for March 12-15. Can regional publishing events survive the Coronavirus international book fair cull?


That’s eleven weeks away, and just maybe we’ll see the Coronavirus fade away as has happened with other virus scares.

But for now at least, the Bucharest Bookfest remains on the at-risk list.