The book will return to the Grand Palais for the first time since 1993 with the next edition of the Paris Book Festival (April 11-13, 2025). With expanded space, Pierre-Yves Bérenguerfor which this will be the first edition as general director, will welcome 450 editorial brands (compared to 320 last year) and open the event to transversality with other cultural industries such as cinema or live performance. The former head of the cultural program for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games shares with Weekly Books the major transformations it wishes to bring about, whether it involves enriched programming or a redesigned dynamic for professionals and the general public.
Livres Hebdo: What can you say about the invitation of honor for the next edition?
Pierre-Yves Bérenguer : We expect a definitive answer by December 15 regarding the guest country of honor. Five months before the event, it is a challenge to still wait for confirmation for such a central component. We are working on several options, in particular to increase the international and BtoB dimension of the festival. At the Frankfurt Messe, we approached this topic with a view to expanding international collaborations.
How can we ensure that this situation of late declaration of guest of honor or general theme does not happen again in the future?
The idea of the guest of honor country has proven itself, but we are considering broadening the concept, for example by highlighting large cities or regions with a strong cultural identity and links with the book industry. In addition, we plan to theme certain editions on strong contemporary societal subjects, such as the sea in 2025, with a cross-disciplinary program integrating publishers, institutions and dedicated spaces in collaboration with our public and private partners. We also need to better anticipate these subjects, which is why the 2026 and 2027 invitations are already being studied.
“The marketing of books now falls to publishers”
This will be your first edition at the head of the Festival. What changes are you making from the point of view of professionals, exhibitors and partners?
We have made an important decision: the marketing of books now falls to publishers, with freedom of choice to integrate a bookseller or not. Signings will also take place on the publishers’ stands. This was a strong request from exhibitors. We are also strengthening the BtoB aspect thanks to collaborations with the ecosystem such as the SNE, the CNL, the BIEF, the SCELF… and the entire inter-professional sector, by working on round tables around contemporary issues of sector organized in the morning on Friday April 11. These initiatives will be presented at the press conference on February 11.
It's the return to the Grand Palais, with a larger space. How are you absorbing this change in dimension?
The highly anticipated return by the profession to the Grand Palais marks a leap in scale: we are gaining 36% space, but not only to increase the number of exhibitor spaces. Better management of flows and queues is anticipated, with wider traffic lanes. We are opening new spaces such as balconies (3,500 m²) to highlight small and young publishing houses, as well as around 2,500 m² of galleries on the first floor, to create bridges with other artistic disciplines such as cinema or live performance. We also innovate by developing dedicated spaces for our partners around projects that are in line with the values we defend.
The key events of the 2025 edition
Before the press conference on February 11 unveiling the program, here are some highlights of the next edition of the Paris Book Festival:
-- The return of La Grande Dictée on Friday April 11, to celebrate the French language around a theme that is still a mystery…
- A literary dive into the open sea, as part of the Year of the Sea and around the Common
- More than ten meetings dealing with the major issues of the sector, both for professionals and the general public on Friday 11 in the morning
- Preview screenings of literary works adapted for cinema
- More than 350 authors in meetings and more than 1200 in signings
- More than 120 additional publishing houses compared to the 2024 edition
- 5 programmers crossing literary genres on the 6 stages: Adelaide Fabre (fiction / poetry), Cedric Duroux (non-fiction/poetry), (youth), Romain Brethes (comic book / pop culture) and Marion Escudé (young Adult).
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Can you explain the economic model of the meeting?
The economic model of the Paris Book Festival is based on a balance between the marketing of exhibition spaces and the development of public and private partnerships. The objective is to reduce the financial pressure on publishers, often criticized in traditional trade fair models. Ultimately, we aim to balance income between exhibitor contributions and partner contributions. We launched a massive strategy aimed at brands, seeking to establish relevant and meaningful collaborations. For example, we work with companies that share values related to the promotion of reading and writing, and with foundations that support educational, inclusive and societal projects. The strategy is developed around three levels of financial commitments to which correspond supports and actions linked to the visibility of our partners. The diversification of themes around the book allows us to broaden the contributions of these private actors.
“Opening up new financing opportunities”
At the same time, our social responsibility (CSR) policy also influences our model. For example, all of the festival furniture is eco-designed, manufactured in local sectors, and reused every year. This represents a significant cost, but it is an essential step to align our values with the expectations of partners and the public. Finally, our ambition is not to generate maximum profits, but to achieve financial balance while consolidating the festival's place as an essential national cultural event. To achieve this, we are also increasing the attractiveness of the program by developing collaborations with public cultural stakeholders and bridges with other artistic disciplines, which opens up new funding opportunities and allows us to expand and cross-pollinate. the audiences. Our media partners such as France TV and Radio France have told us of their renewed commitment to this new orientation.
How do you plan to make the event a vast moment of exchange between the arts while keeping the book at the heart of the event?
The book and literature remain central. We want to increase the visitor experience by revealing their links with other arts and the creations made by artists influenced by literature, in its broadest sense. For example, in collaboration with the SCELF, cinema will be highlighted through a gallery dedicated to literary adaptations. In addition, previews will be scheduled in the evening, in the presence of the film teams.
“15-25 year olds represent 43% of visitors”
The collaboration with the “Extra! » from the Center Pompidou will bring a lively dimension to the festival around the theme “Literary Cabaret”. The objective is to introduce various audiences to the links between the arts, always starting from books and writing and returning to them. Finally, we are preparing a surprise for all the professionals and officials present at the inauguration of the Festival, on the evening of April 10.
This is the edition of the great return of Children's literature / Comics / Manga with the objective of working on a particular target audience. Which one and how?
We have great success with 15-25 year olds, who represent 43% of visitors and whose entry is free. We seek to enhance the experience for family audiences. For this, a 200 m² children's village will be created, with play and reading spaces and creative workshops co-constructed with publishers and our private partners. Our educational mission manager is already working with educational institutions and our public partners to mobilize the school community. We are aiming for the participation of 12 to 15,000 young people from Friday April 11, the day before the school holidays. The publishers have heard our wishes and I can announce to you that the presence of these three genres will be doubled compared to the 2024 edition.
