Sofia--The 41st Sofia International Book Fair and the First Sofia International Literary Festival opened on Tuesday, bringing together more than 200 publishing houses and dozens of writers from this region.

Opening the event in the Bulgaria's National Palace of Culture, Sofia's Deputy Mayor Todor Chobanov called it "one of the most remarkable moments" in the rich calendar of the city.

"We are confident that it will really enrich the spiritual and cultural life of Sofia, and allow many, many readers to meet their favorite authors, while encouraging publishing, reading, and working with books in our whole social environment,"Chobanov said.

Peni Raeva, NPC's executive director, said that along with home education and school, such exhibitions and forums were the place where children could cultivate a taste for books.

Zdravko Paskalev, a retired professor of physics, told Xinhua he came to the fair to see some new books and enjoy the discounts to fill his home library.

"The exhibition allows to enrich ourselves, and see our level and the level of other countries, while participation of representatives in the East such as the Chinese Confucius Institute also attracts attention," he added.