Frankfurt Book Fair opens public weekend with Czech focus and 230,000 visitors expected

The 77th Frankfurter Buchmesse opened its public weekend on Saturday 10 October 2026, drawing crowds to the Messe Frankfurt halls after three professional days from 7 October. Public hours ran from 09:00 to 18:30, with a family day ticket priced at 70 euros covering two adults and up to three children aged seven and over. Fair organisers expect more than 230,000 visitors and 4,300 exhibitors from the global publishing industry across the five-day run, which closes on 11 October. This year's Guest of Honour is Czechia, with a dedicated pavilion curated around the theme of language, memory and migration; the opening of the French Guest of Honour programme for 2027 was also formally launched on 10 October. Saturday's programme included author events with internationally translated writers, a stage dedicated to independent publishing, and the televised announcement of Germany's youth word of the year 2026 by publisher Langenscheidt. Publishing Perspectives highlighted a strong focus on artificial intelligence and copyright across the professional days, with trade panels on licensing rights, author contracts and AI-generated translations. The Frankfurt fair remains the world's largest rights-trading event for books.