The Sharjah fair is among the largest book fairs in the world by visitors and among the most significant in the Arab publishing world by rights traded. Around two thousand publishers exhibit across twelve days, with a professional programme preceding the public opening, and the emirate subsidises purchases by libraries.
The 43rd fair drew 1,820,000 visitors across eleven days in 2024. The 44th is reported in the press at 1.4 million; a fall of a quarter in a year at a book fair is implausible and a change of basis is the likelier explanation, so the 43rd stands here with its own year until the 44th's basis is known.
Sharjah was UNESCO World Book Capital in 2019 and has built the Sharjah Publishing City free zone, which makes the fair part of an industrial policy rather than a cultural gesture.
Entry is free. The fair's scale is such that it is effectively the emirate's largest annual event of any kind.
PlanningA twelve-day November window at Expo Centre Sharjah; free, with a professional rights programme first.
Dates
Season
Computed from the recurrence rule we record for this entry, not copied from a listing. A date marked ~ comes from a calendar conversion and the observance may fall a day or two either side.