Muscat: HH Sayyid Theyazin bin Haitham al Said, Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, will inaugurate the 26th edition of Muscat Book Fair 2020 on February 24, said Dr. Abdullah bin Nasser al Harrasi, Minister of Information, during a conference on Wednesday.
Al Harassi said that the exhibition will be by following precautionary measures as the country has decided to coexist with the prevailing health situation pandemic by following the rules.
The Book Fair, which will see the participation of 715 publishing houses with over 361,000 titles from 27 countries, will also host 114 cultural events, 85 activities for children and families. The exhibition is expected to receive 50,000 visitors per day.
Around 29 events of the 60 events will be organized by the Governorate of South al Sharqiyah.
The number of participating countries will be less compared to the 2020 edition and the walking corridors between stalls have been increased as part of the measures to implement social distancing rules.
The site will offer provisions for hospitality and logistics services, besides ambulances throughout the exhibition period.
The exhibition will function at 70 percent of its capacity and the number of visitors will be regulated by the people through specific systems installed at the exhibition center.
All precautionary measures set by the Covid-19 Supreme Committee will be applied during this cultural event.
The Supreme Committee recently allowed the holding of local and international conferences and exhibitions. The organizers have to stick to the terms and conditions set for practicing these activities provided attendance does not exceed 70% of the capacity of each venue. A number of cultural, intellectual, and art activities will be organized during this event.
These activities will be run in coordination with many relevant departments. Muscat International Book Fair is the largest cultural event in the Sultanate of Oman. It also comes within the top ten book fairs at the Arab level. It was launched in 1992 and has since seen the participation of international publishers and authors.
It was ranked among the top ten fairs in the Arab world and among the three most prominent exhibitions in the Gulf. The exhibition’s cultural program includes organizing a variety of cultural, intellectual, literary, and artistic events in coordination with a number of government and private institutions, including the Cultural Club, the Literary Forum, the Omani Society of Writers and Writers, the National Youth Committee and the National Human Rights Committee.