The Ekushey Book Fair 2020 at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city witnessed a heavy rush of visitors on Friday — FE photo A large number of book lovers and visitors visited the Amar Ekushey Book Fair at Bangla Academy premises and at the adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan in the city on Friday before the end of the month-long event today (Saturday).
There is no chance to extend the book fair's duration, Habibulllah Siraji, Director General of Bangla Academy, confirmed to the FE.
None of them wanted to miss the chance to buy their desired books, so they gathered at the fair. Sellers were also seen busy selling books at the stalls and most of the visitors returned home with books in their hands. Book sellers also said that there was a heavier rush on Friday than on any other day of the month.
The fair also celebrated its 'Shishu Prohor' from 11am to 1pm. The children's corner was decorated colourfully with toys. This year the little magazine corner and the children's corner were both on the Suhrawardy Udyan.
The presence of children was remarkable in the morning while the number of visitors of all ages increased from the afternoon. The fair ran from 11am to 9pm.
Ruhul Amin, a businessman, who came to the fair from Dinajpur, with his 8-year old son, said, "I have come to Dhaka from Dinajpur for an examination. After completing my examination, I did not want to miss the chance to come to the fair. My son is also excited, he has bought some books of poems, jokes and cartoons."
There was also a huge traffic jam in the High-Court intersection, Shaheed Minar area, Nilkhet intersection, Shahbag and Katabon intersection area because of the book fair. Passengers, rickshaw pullers and other riders suffered much because of the situation.
Rahim, a rickshaw puller, caught in a jam in the Shaheed Minar area, told the FE, "Passengers don't pay us extra money when we lose our time in traffic jams, today I have faced many such jams. It's a bad day."
According to sources, this year will see record book sales than any of the previous years.
Sales of books at the fair amounted to Tk 800 million, Tk 754 million, Tk 654 million, Tk 405 million and Tk 219.5 million in 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016 and 2015 respectively. This year 130 new books on the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman have been published at the fair. Of them, only 20 books cost over Tk 500 and the other 110 books cost between Tk 50 and Tk 500.
A total of 341 new books hit the fair on Friday. This year the authorities allotted stalls for 126 organisations on the academy premises and 434 organisations at the Suhrawardy Udyan.
They allotted 873 units for a total of 560 organisations and 34 pavilions for 33 organisations. The authorities allotted them online for the second time, according to Bangla Academy sources.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
