Hundreds of thousands throng Ekushey Book Fair at the end

With 2016 being a leap year, booklovers have an extra day this February to collect the books of their choices at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair.

On Sunday, thousands thronged the fair while an ending note hung in the air with the event set to end on Monday.

Organisers Bangla Academy are now busy with the preparations of the closing ceremony. The programme will start Monday evening at the main stage of the fair on the Academy premises.

Academy President Prof Anisuzzaman will chair the closing ceremony. Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will be the chief guest.

At the event, expatriate litterateur Manzu Islam and French researcher of Bangla language and literature Francaise Bhattacharya will receive the ‘Syed Waliullah Literary Award-2015’.

Several other awards, including Munier Chowdhury Memorial Award and Chittaranjan Saha Memorial Award, will also be handed out at the programme, which will be followed by a cultural show.

The fair is scheduled to open at 1pm on Monday and end at 8pm.

The fair on Sunday was opened at 2pm with hundreds of people already gathered at the main gate, a scene that was not usual on the other workdays throughout the month.

People were seen mostly buying books instead of just roaming around the fair ground.

The major and renowned publishing firms have had a good run throughout the fair, the owners said.

Publishing house Tamralipi’s owner AKM Tarikul Islam Rony told bdnews24.com: “We’re happy with what we’ve sold. And, there is not much time left to wander around, so people are buying more books now.”

He said Muhammad Zafar Iqbal’s science fiction ‘Cranial’ is the bestseller in their stall and it was followed by Gultekin Khan’s ‘Ajo, Keu Hate Obiram’.

But the scene was not the same at the little-known houses, according to their proprietors.

Several small publishing firms lamented that they did not see much business as their stalls were not in the best locations of the fair ground.

Borshadupur Prokashoni owner Mashfiq Ullah said his stall saw little business after Feb 15, which is when sales usually pick up.

“Our stall is not in a good spot,” he said.