The appointment with the Salone returns every year in May at Lingotto, the famous Fiat plant with the spiral ramp and roof-top test track, a masterpiece of industrial archaeology. Designed between 1915 and 1922 and admired by Le Corbusier, since 1985 it has been transformed by Renzo Piano into an exhibition, conference and commercial centre.

From the 100,000 visitors and 553 exhibitors of 1988, the Salone has grown to the current 300,000 visitors and over 1,400 exhibitors. In 2008 there were 3,889 accredited journalists from 875 different publications, 9,870 minutes of coverage on radio and TV, 4,730 articles in the press.

Its strength is founded on three well-balanced identities. The Turin Salone is, in fact, an important commercial showcase, an immense bookshop and a cultural festival all in one.

The professional and commercial showcase

1,400 exhibitors, 12,500 teachers, and 13,089 publishers, booksellers, librarians, agents, illustrators and translators came together at the 2008 Salone. The Salone dedicates special sections to trade professionals. The International Book Forum for the exchange of publishing and translation rights. The Book Film Bridge for the audio-video transposition of literary work. The Incubator helps young publishers to publicise themselves. The Italian Fellowship Programme offers international publishers the chance to visit and get to know the leading Italian publishers.

Italy's biggest bookshop

Today, the Salone is the biggest bookshop in Italy and the cultural area of the Mediterranean. Endless shelves on which the general public can find best-sellers and curiosities, unfindable volumes and the latest publications. A showcase where small and mid-range publishers have the same visibility as major brand names and where local publishers can make themselves known outside their area. Plus the space where antique booksellers can set out their treasures: from illuminated manuscripts to rare first editions.

A vast cultural festival

The Salone is also a buzzing international festival of culture with a programme of over one thousand conferences, meetings, debates and shows with more than 2,000 speakers and guests over five days. Nobel prize winners, writers, scientists, philosophers, historians, journalists and artists. The brightest minds of the contemporary world, tackling the big questions of how to understand the challenges of the society that we live in. A debate always conducted in a spirit of respect and of dialogue with the culture and ideas of others.

History

The Salone started out in 1988 from an idea by two Torinesi: the bookseller Angelo Pezzana and the entrepreneur Guido Accornero. Right from the first edition an annual theme has characterised the event, a thread that bonds the most important conferences. In 1999 the Salone was taken over by Piedmont Region, the Province of Turin and the City of Turin. From 1999 to 2008 it adopted the name Fiera Internazionale del Libro, to then return to the original name. Promotion and cultural planning were entrusted to the Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura (Foundation for Books, Music and Culture). The President is Rolando Picchioni, who called on the author Ernesto Ferrero to act as cultural director.

Guest countries

Since 2001 the Fair has hosted a different country every year, present in Turin with its own stand, authors and publishers, exhibitions, shows, artists and analyses. This tradition has seen the appearance, one after the other, of Catalonia, Holland, Switzerland, Canada, Greece, Brazil, Portugal, Lithuania, Israel and in 2009 Egypt together with the Arab countries of the Mediterranean. In 2005 Lingua Madre arrived to broaden the Fair's international view, the space dedicated to cultural métissage with particular attention to the world's emerging countries.

Bookstock Village, the Fair for young people

41,514 children and teenagers up to the age of 18 came to the Salone in 2008. Bookstock Village, an area packed with initiatives, meetings, bookshops, games and workshops to raise the readers of tomorrow is dedicated to them. This commitment, together with schools, extends throughout the year with a number of projects: Nati per leggere (Born to Read), to teach families the importance of reading, the on-line games PlayBook and Libringioco (Books in Play) for schoolchildren, and the Adotta uno scrittore (Adopt an Author) initiative that brings authors into classrooms.

The Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura

The Salone Internazionale del Libro is organised by the Fondazione per il Libro, la Musica e la Cultura (Foundation for Books, Music and Culture), an institution established by Piedmont Region, the Province of Turin and the City of Turin, with the support of private partners and sponsors. In addition to the Salone, the Fondazione per il Libro has created events such as the exhibitions for the Centenario dell'Esposizione di Arti decorative di Torino 1902 (Centenary of the 1902 Decorative Arts Exhibition of Turin, 2002) and Luci del teleschermo (Lights of the Television Screen) for the 50th anniversary of Italian television (2004), co-ordinated the 848 events of the UNESCO Turin World Book Capital year (2006-2007). It organises major cultural events every year in Italy: Portici di Carta (Paper Porticos, Turin), Casa Olimpia (Sestriere), Biennale del Libro di Viaggio (Travel Book Biennial, Arona), Alpi 365 Expo. Biennale della Montagna (Mountain Biennial, Turin, October).