Sharjah International Book Fair (SIBF) concluded on a record-breaking note on Saturday, with the 36th edition of the world’s third largest book fair attracting 2.38 million visitors over its 11-day run at Expo Centre Sharjah. The figure compares to the 2.31 million visitors that attended last year. SIBF 2017 featured more than 2,600 events and the participation of 400 authors, intellectuals and literary luminaries from 64 countries.

The footfall figures broke all previous fair records, with sales also up considerably from last year. The AED 206 million book sales figure represented an increase of 17% over 2016 and was achieved in part due to the high volume of sales of children’s and foreign books and the retail performances of new exhibitors. Both footfall and book sales figures for SIBF 2017 are the highest in the fair’s 35-year history.