Tens of Thousands Visit FamilySearch Booth at Buenos Aires Book Fair

FamilySearch, the world’s largest genealogical organization, presented a prominent booth at the 47th Buenos Aires International Book Fair in May 2023. More than 1.2 million people visited the fair, and 40,000 of those (including government representatives, journalists and religious leaders) explored the exhibit to learn more about their family history. 

The FamilySearch booth was interactive, offering access to FamilySearch.org and its vast collection of genealogical records. More than 300 FamilySearch volunteers offered one-on-one help and guided visitors in the discovery of their family trees. 

A highlight of the FamilySearch booth was “El barco de tus abuelos,” (“Your Grandparents’ Ship”), a space where visitors could dress like their ancestors who arrived in the port of Buenos Aires a century ago. 

“It was striking to see the interest with which visitors to the book fair flocked to the FamilySearch booth,” said Carlos Cantero, FamilySearch South America Area manager. “The most gratifying thing was … observing their emotions when finding information about their ancestors. Volunteers of all ages joyfully served eight hours a day for 19 days so that each visitor could have a beautiful experience discovering their own story.” 

“The response of the people was wonderful,” added Pablo Schpilman of FamilySearch. “These were days of many emotions. Visitors were surprised to see how, in a few minutes, we could put together several generations of their family tree and find records of their ancestors. Many of them wept with emotion and thanked us for the help we gave them.” 

Drawn by the enthusiastic reaction of visitors, TV and radio stations, newspapers, blogs and other digital outlets provided extensive coverage of the booth and interviewed FamilySearch representatives.