The Le Mans book fair continues to grow. Organized this weekend of October 5 and 6, 2024 in the city center as part of Get reading!
he attracted about 56,000, 57,000 people
according to the organizers. In total, including the numerous activities offered during the week, the festival recorded 67,000 entries, compared to 65,000 last year.
Place yourself in the heart of the three major French salons
We are satisfied because it is a success once again
rejoices the mayor, Stéphane Le Foll, who recalls the three objectives of the event, all achieved. Position itself in the ranks of the major French salons, with Nancy and Brive, offer an eclectic offer and a national-level platform, and encourage reading by reaching all audiences.
If the attendance is up slightly compared to last year, it remains an estimate since entries are free and not counted. How is their number then estimated? This is a calculation based on sales
explains Stéphane Le Foll, who takes up a theorem of booksellers: For a book sold, we consider that there are four visitors
.
Many successful authors
For comparison, the event, ideally located in the calendar one month after the start of the literary season and one month before the Goncourt Prize, only attracted 28,000 people in 2015 when it was still paying.
In the meantime, the City regained control of the organization of what was then called “The 25th Book Hour”
and succeeded in giving national notoriety to the event, now attended by successful writers. This year, Mélissa Da Costa, Olivier Norek (winner of the Le Mans Saint-Exupéry prize), Kamel Daoud and Alice Zeniter were on the bill while several authors of new romance books, mangas and comics attracted the crowd.
