The Syrian people’s renewed turn toward reading and their eagerness to attend a major cultural event, where books take center stage among a large gathering of more than 500 Arab and international publishing houses, marks a new cultural phenomenon after years of devastating wars that affected the spirit, psyche, and cities. It represents a new cultural state aimed at promoting a culture of peace, knowledge, and tolerance, values that reading offers in its simplest form.

Reading has begun to establish a renewed mindset in the daily lives of the Syrian people. This occasion will not pass without discovering the human dimensions that emerge from intellectual communication and popular engagement with books.

Syria, which suffered greatly from an internal and external war that engulfed the country for many long years and kept it away from various cultural, economic, and social scenes, is awakening today to once again present its authentic and longstanding cultural and social consciousness. Syria has made significant cultural and intellectual contributions since the late nineteenth century, with the emergence of culture, theater, and journalism, as well as the revival of distinguished literature and classical poetry. Since that period, it has played a role as one of the pillars of Arab culture, alongside major cultural centers in Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, and other Arab countries.

As Syria returns to the book and restores its great educational and enlightening role, it is also returning to a state of cultural exchange through books and to a culture of reading that few would have expected after a long and devastating war, unlike anything Syrians had experienced during the previous decades since the October 1973 War.

The Damascus International Book Fair has now returned in a new edition, erasing the tragic scenes through which Syria passed for more than a decade and bringing Syrians back together through the printed word. It is creating a renewed state of awareness that seeks peace and embraces the values of tolerance.

The Damascus International Book Fair has returned in its 2026 edition, opening on February 5. In this cultural return, the fair has selected the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia as its Guest of Honor. Saudi Arabia is currently contributing significantly to Arab and global stability and has supported Syria in ways intended to help achieve stability, enabling Syria to restore its cultural and economic life, rebuild its intellectual and reading culture, and promote tolerance before rebuilding its cities, streets, and public spaces. The selection also aims to strengthen cultural relations between the two countries.

His Highness Prince Badr bin Abdullah bin Farhan, Minister of Culture and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Literature, Publishing and Translation Commission, inaugurated the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s pavilion as Guest of Honor at the Damascus International Book Fair 2026, in the presence of the Ministers of Culture of Syria and Qatar in Damascus.

The fair continues until February 16, bringing together a diverse Arab cultural presence. As part of efforts to strengthen Saudi-Syrian cultural relations, Saudi Arabia is participating through its pavilion with a cultural program featuring cultural seminars and poetry evenings, an exhibition of manuscripts, a section showcasing traditional fashion and hospitality, and replicas of archaeological artifacts. The pavilion also features Saudi performing arts, allowing visitors to explore the diversity of Saudi Arabia’s cultural landscape across its historical, literary, and intellectual dimensions.

The fair is hosting participants from 35 Arab and foreign countries. Its exhibition halls feature more than 100,000 diverse titles, while the cultural program includes more than 650 events, comprising intellectual seminars, discussion sessions, and literary and artistic evenings.