Ekushey Book Fair to be held this year on bigger area with participation of around 450 publishers

Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2016 will begin on Monday.

Venue of the fair this year will be twice bigger than the last year and will also draw more publishers.

Bangla Academy has observed its 60th anniversary on Dec 3, 2015. The occasion will be celebrated throughout the fair.

The Academy’s Director General Shamsuzzaman Khan said some 450 publishers would set up their stalls covering a total area of 478,000 square feet.

Bangla Academy officials addressed a press conference at the Academy premises on Saturday afternoon.

Both the Academy section and Suhrawardi Udyan section of the fair will have wi-fi facilities.

Authors will be able to launch their new books at two spots at Nazrul Mancha and Suhrawardi Udyan during the event.

Except for public holidays, the fair will remain open from 3pm to 8pm during the whole month of February. 

On holidays, the opening hours will be from 11am to 8pm and from 8am to 8pm on Feb 21, Khan said.

Academy’s Member Secretary Jalal Ahmed said readers could buy Bangla Academy’s books at a concession of 30% and other books at 25%.

Foolproof security measures during book fair

Jalal Ahmed said, “There will be two main entrances with archways at TSC and Doel Chattar, three at Bangla Academy premises, and eight at Suhrawardi Udyan.”

“RAB, Police, Ansar, BGB troops and Detective organisations will be in charge of overall security of the fair. Two hundred CC cameras will cover the entire area,” he added.

Two temporary RAB camps will be set up at TSC and Doel Chatter to avoid any untoward situations.

Director General Khan said that Bangla Academy put extra efforts for the security of the fair. They started working on this with law-enforcement agencies from last year’s June.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the month-long book fair at 3:30pm on Feb 1, Monday.