Bookfest Chisinau opens five-day fair

Bookfest Chisinau opened on September 2 at the Mediacor Center in Chisinau, starting a five-day program of book launches, debates, meetings with writers and publisher events, organizers and Moldovan state news agency Moldpres said. The 2026 fair runs through September 6 and brings together publishing houses from Moldova and Romania, with events also scheduled at other cultural venues in the capital. Organizers said admission is free and the fair includes hundreds of titles and promotional offers for readers. ### Where is this year’s fair being held? The Mediacor Center at Moldova State University is the main venue for Bookfest Chisinau 2026, according to the official Bookfest site and Moldpres. The fair is also extending into other cultural spaces in Chisinau during the September 2-6 run, rather than being limited to a single exhibition hall. (moldpres.md) Bookfest’s official site listed the address as 60 Alexei Mateevici Street and said the event returned to Chisinau between September 2 and 6. Moldpres reported the opening took place at Mediacor on September 2. ### Who is participating, and how big is the event? More than 30 publishers from Moldova and Romania are participating in the 2026 edition, according to Moldpres. (moldpres.md) The fair is built around a cross-border Romanian-language publishing market that has been central to previous Chisinau editions as well. Hundreds of titles, dozens of cultural events and direct meetings between readers and writers are part of the program, Moldpres said. (bookfest.ro) The official program page shows a schedule that includes launches, debates, exhibitions and discussions spread across the five days. ### What does the program actually include? (moldpres.md) The September 2 opening day included the official inauguration at 12:00 p.m. at Mediacor, followed by a debate titled “Frankfurt 2028,” according to the Bookfest events page. The same schedule listed book launches from publishers including Paralela 45 and ARC, along with history-focused discussions organized by Eurodidactica and Lexon-Prim. (moldpres.md) The full program published by organizers also includes exhibitions mounted by the National Library of the Republic of Moldova during the September 2-6 fair. Those displays cover themes tied to Moldovan cultural heritage, Romanian-language publishing and visual art. ### Who is backing the event? Moldpres said the 2026 edition is being held under the high patronage of Moldovan President Maia Sandu and Romanian President Nicusor Dan. (bookfest.ro) That framing underscores the fair’s role as a joint Moldovan-Romanian cultural event centered on books, language and publishing. Bookfest’s own promotional material described the fair as a return engagement in Chisinau and said details of the edition were presented at an official press conference on September 1. (bookfest.ro) The event has been staged in Chisinau for several years, and Moldpres described the 2026 gathering as the ninth edition. ### What happens next over the remaining days? The fair continues through September 6, with additional author appearances, publisher presentations and library exhibitions already listed on the official schedule. (moldpres.md) The Bookfest events page shows programming continuing through Sunday, including publisher sessions and public events at Mediacor and the National Library of the Republic of Moldova. (bookfest.ro) September 6 is the closing day for this year’s edition, according to Moldpres and the official Bookfest Chisinau page. Readers can follow the remaining schedule through the organizers’ program listings and the event pages for Chisinau 2026. (moldpres.md) (bookfest.ro)