Ekushey book fair to begin on 1 Feb

The month-long "Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela 2024", the country's largest book fair, is going to begin on the first day of February this year.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the fair this year at 3pm. Almost 60% of the preparatory work has already been completed on Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan premises," Member Secretary of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair Committee Dr KM Muzahidul Islam told BSS.

This year, Bangla Academy alone is doing the entire work of the fair to avoid any criticism, said Muzahidul, adding, "In the previous years, some event management companies were involved in the fair arrangement, raising some criticism last year."

The preparation for the fair starts soon after the end of the last fair. Some committees have been formulated in three phases - a committee for the preparation phase, a committee for the inaugural ceremony, and separate committees for conducting the month-long fair.

Along with cultural programmes and month-long seminars, there will be competitions for children including drawing, music, and recitation.

Stall allotment for old and newly-enlisted publications will be done on 23 January through a digitalised lottery system, said the organisers.

Alongside the enlisted 601 organisations, some 70 new publications have applied to get stall allocation responding to the notice.

However, 21 new publications have been selected so far while the rest are in the queue.

Like previous years, the main stage of the fair will be on the Bangla Academy premises while book unwrapping and "Lekhak Bolchi" stages will be set up on Suhrawardi Udyan premises.

Like the previous year, "Shishu Chattar'' has also been set up in the Sadhu Shanga area beside the Ramna Kali Temple.