Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2025
The publishing world gathered in the historic Italian city of Bologna this past week for the biggest event on the global children’s book calendar — the Bologna Children’s Book Fair (BCBF). In four days at the Bologna fairgrounds in the city’s northeast, publishers, agents, authors, illustrators, librarians, booksellers, distributors, printers and many others came from the four corners of the Earth — to promote our authors and illustrators, do business and discuss ways forward in the face of digital and economic challenges. This 62nd edition of the fair brought 1,577 exhibitors from 95 countries, and a total of 33,318 trade visitors — an increase of 5% from 2024. New Zealand was there thanks to the collective stand organised by the Publishers Association of New Zealand (PANZ), under its contract for international literature promotion with Creative New Zealand. With sharply increased costs for global exhibitions but no increase in the international budget for well over a decade, the New Zealand presence relies on collegiality, much volunteer time, and the support of our freight partner Book Systems International.
