“The desire for a personal meeting at the Leipzig Book Fair was enormous,” organizers said on their website. “But numerous cancellations by exhibitors within the last few days have meant that the expected quality and breadth of content of such a large public fair can no longer be guaranteed.”

This is the third cancellation of Germany’s second-largest book fair since the pandemic began. It was due to have been held from March 17-20.

According to industry reports, major publishing groups such as Oetinger and Penguin Random House said in recent days they would not be attending.

The fair had originally decided to go ahead with its usual spring event as some three-quarters of the attendees had said they would come in 2022, and local politicians were also optimistic.