So the Bookfair...
It was actually better than I expected in some ways, especially attendance which felt OK numbers wise, although as it was spread out over a few venues and different floors in the main stall venue it was hard to get a complete picture of numbers really.
It's hard to draw a clear position of it, but it did feel quite different to me; much more internally focused, younger and more sub-cultural, more trans/queer/disability visibility and stalls, and a vibe much more of anarchism as activism/rebellion rather than an outward looking and serious political movement.
The meetings reflected that too; nothing on the strike wave, nothing on the 'cost of living', nothing on climate change, one very poor meeting on Ukraine (and even that was internally focused). The 'old' bookfair had meetings with 100s of people on some big topics, speakers from important international struggles, that kind of thing. Very sad that's been lost.
It felt a bit tragic to me really, and emblematic of the wider shift politically in that scene. I'm not sure I'd bother going again.