Gibraltar Cultural Services, on behalf of the Ministry of Culture, is organising ‘World Book Day’ at the John Mackintosh Hall on Thursday 5th March 2020.

This year’s theme is Aladdin, taken from the ‘One Thousand and One Nights/Arabian Nights’, a collection of stories which includes the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor, Shahrazad, and Ali Baba, among others. GCS will be hosting a number of school visits during the day and offering a variety of fun and educational activities.

This year there will be a storytelling session at the John Mackintosh Hall Library in the afternoon. There will also be an interpretation of the theme with performances by the White Light Company and JF Dance at the Charles Hunt Room, at 4:30pm and 5:15pm. These are open to the public. Children are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite book character.

The popular Book Crossing and Book Fair will open its doors from 10am in the Lower Exhibition room. You may pick up a book free of charge or take part in the Book Crossing “bring a book – take a book”. Local authors are also invited to join us to promote their books.

Minister for Culture, the Hon John Cortes commented: “In this digital age books are often left to one side as children might prefer a video game or downloaded movie. We need to keep encouraging the reading of books, and this event organised by Cultural Services and involving children is a great, fun way of doing so."

For further information on the event, or for authors wishing to promote their books, please contact Davina Barbara or Monica Stevens at the John Mackintosh Hall on Tel 200 49161 or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.