After multiple date changes and threatened boycotts, 18-day fair opens with 549 participating institutions, running until March 15 during Ramadan.
Amar Ekushey Book Fair finally began on Thursday after weeks of uncertainty, with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman inaugurating the 18-day event that runs until March 15, featuring the theme 'Multidimensional Bangladesh'.
Fair, organised by Bangla Academy, typically runs throughout February starting from the first day of the month. However, this year's event faced repeated postponements due to the 13th National Parliament elections scheduled for February 12 by the former interim government, leading to several date changes before settling on the last week of February.
Timing created significant controversy as it coincided with the holy month of Ramadan. Major publishers initially decided to boycott the fair, arguing it would not be profitable. The impasse was only resolved after the Ministry of Culture and Bangla Academy agreed to waive all stall allocation fees, prompting publishers to participate.
Following the opening ceremony, the fair opened to the public yesterday afternoon. Due to Ramadan, the fair's timing has been adjusted. It will open daily at 2pm and run continuously until 9pm. Book lovers can enter the fair until 830pm.
On Fridays, Saturdays, and other holidays, there will be a special children's hour. The fair will open at 11am, with the children's hour running until 1pm, after which it remains open for everyone until 9pm. Today marks the first children's hour.
Bangla Academy announced that 549 institutions are participating this year, down from 708 last year. The academy premises hosts 81 government, private research, and development organisations, while Sohrawardi Udyan houses 468 creative book publishers.
On the first day, most stalls at Suhrawardi Udyan remained under construction and decoration. Only a handful had books arranged for sale. The uncertainty over the fair's timing meant publishers could not prepare their stalls in advance. Many areas of the fairground lacked electricity supply.
Visitors at the fair were impressed by the creative design of the books "Taka" and "Entrepreneur's Passport" written by Fayez Ahmed Pranto. The books are attracting people because they have been designed in the shape of a full bundle of money and a Bangladeshi passport.
At Batighar Prokashoni's stall in the northern section, construction work continued into the evening in darkness. Stall manager Sanjoy Sutradhar said their row of stalls had not received electrical connections, and they had informed the authorities.
Near the water reservoir on the western side of the Independence Pillar, Katha Prokash had finished arranging books. Stall manager Zafirul Islam said they had brought several new books, trying to ensure readers could find new titles from the first day.
