"I would say that the fair was a huge success," said the organiser of the fair to Lusa, which valued not only the number of visitors (155,489 at the end of Saturday), but also the commercial component of the fair.

According to the official, the fair a record number of visitors during its 17 days, and even with one day unaccounted for (today), "the numbers of the previous year and previous years" were surpassed.

"The fair also had a widespread commercial success", he told Lusa, safeguarding that the final numbers will have to be confirmed later "by the booksellers themselves", although the opinions are "very clear in that sense", he referred.

Nuno Faria also concluded that "there was no retraction" from the clients, even in a context of crisis and aggravated inflation, which he based on "several opinions from several book sectors" of the fair, stating that it was the "general" feeling.

"During this time, people probably needed another type of stimulus and are restless," he reflected.

The fair takes place "a key moment, between the summer and the beginning of classes", conjugating "a set of factors that make the event not only very popular, but also very harmonious from the point of view of all the interests", said Nuno Faria to Lusa.

Besides the commercial component, the organiser observed that "people stayed a long time at the fair" and "return", because it is also "a cultural festival along with being a fair".

"What makes this fair unique is that it is a fair next to a library, and also inside a library", and that it included "a very varied line-up, including speakers, lessons, cinema, concerts of various kinds, events for children and young people and other outdoor activities".

According to the organiser, "the separation from APEL [Associação Portuguesa de Editores e Livreiros] made the fair less stereotypical, but no less cosmopolitan, because we saw people from everywhere".

When speaking about the fact that the Porto Book Fair took place at the same time as the Lisbon one, Nuno Faria said that for the organisation "it is neither beneficial nor harmful", because they are "two different scales and for two different purposes".

"For the literary line-up it is not harmful either, because we anticipate our invitations a lot, and I think it is always possible to reconcile them", he added.

However, for booksellers, "especially smaller booksellers", he said that the coincidence of agendas is "quite detrimental".

"They will confirm this, but to be managing two 'stands' in two different cities, on the same days, for such an extended period of time, I think it is a problem," he told Lusa.

The Porto Book Fair opened on 26 August and ends today, having featured more than 100 activities, speakers, lessons, workshops, concerts, films and activities for babies, children and young people.

The event also paid tribute to writers Ana Luísa Amaral and Manuel Gusmão, paying special attention to Brazilian literature, to mark the 200th anniversary of the country's independence.