Bangladesh
Ekushey Book Fair Book fair sees huge crowd on Friday
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, February 19: The Amar Ekushey Book Fair has started after being postponed by two weeks due to the pandemic. The month-long book fair was inaugurated on February 15. However, in the first three days, the presence of buyers and visitors was not noticeable, but on the fourth day, the book fair recorded a huge crowd. As it was a weekly holiday on Friday (February 18), a huge crowd of writers, publishers, readers and buyer-visitors was seen in the fair grounds of Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan in the afternoon.
The fair grounds were opened at 11 am. on Friday. The presence of people around the book fair had been gradually increasing since morning. In the afternoon, shoppers and visitors stumbled upon the bookstores. Due to the ongoing Corona situation, many people are seen rushing back to buy their favourite books.
A visit to the Suhrawardy Udyan section of the book fair at around 12 noon on this day shows that the construction work of one or two stalls inside have not been completed yet. Also, the publishers who did not complete the construction of the stalls at the beginning, have already completed the construction of the stalls keeping in mind the weekend and weekly holiday, said the sales staff. At around 3 pm. in the afternoon, a long queue of buyers and visitors was seen at the entrance of Suhrawardy Udyan Gate 2. Law enforcement and security personnel are allowing everyone to enter the fair wearing masks and using hand sanitizers.
Although the public attendance at the fair has increased, the sales have not increased in comparison. Many people are going to the stalls and leaving the book stalls after turning some pages. Some people are buying a book or two. Some came to the fair on Friday, and spent their time by wandering around.
Talking to salesmen at various stalls, it is learned that the book fair opens at 2 pm on other days, but the doors of the fair opened at 11 am on Friday, the weekly holiday. Publishers have also increased the number of books in the stalls.
According to the sales staff, although the attendance of buyers and visitors increased on the weekly holiday, the sales were not increased in comparison. Their expectation is that the number of buyers will increase day by day, and also the sales of books.
