The Amar Ekushey Book Fair was turned into a vibrant and festive gathering of book lovers, authors, publishers and researchers on Friday as scores of people flocked to the fair premises at Suhrawardy Udyan and Bangla Academy in Dhaka.
The stall attendants were seen busy dealing with the visitors and smiles flashed on the face of the publishers as holiday crowd flocked to different stalls and pavilions.
Some people were seen buying books, some were looking at them while others were waiting for their favourite authors to come to the fair.
With celebrated writers and their fans, the fairground turned into a rendezvous for booklovers on the day.
With the first two hours from 11 am to 1 pm dedicated to kids as children's hour, children's presence was impressive in the morning, while the number of visitors of all ages increased as the children's hour ended.
The stall attendants said the sale of books increased as the day went by. Most of the visitors to the fair visited the different stalls and looked at the books in the morning. However, as the day progressed, many people were buying their favourite authors' books.
Ahana Akhtar, salesperson of Biswa Sahitya Bhavan, said: “There are a lot of people in the fair today (Friday). There is no place to step in the crowd.”
Jafar Sadman, a salesperson of Time Publishing, said: "Today (Friday), book sales increased as well as the visitors. I hope it will continue. People will visit the fair and buy books, that is our expectation.”
In the morning, after the gates of the fair opened at around 11am, children and teenagers started arriving at the fair with their parents, siblings, and guardians. Later at around 11:30am, Sisimpur's performance and painting competition began.
Famous children's writer Dr Zafar Iqbal came to the book fair and met the children at around 12pm. During this time, he told the children stories and encouraged them to read more books.
He also took a look at the paintings made by the children.
Rajia Ahmed, a seventh grader, came to the book fair with her father. She said she likes comic books and fairy tales.
“I love adventure comic books more. I bought two today (Friday),” she said.
Rajin Halder, a second grader, watched the Sisimpur characters' performance while sitting on his father's shoulders, as they could not manage a seat.
Rajin said: “I came to the fair to see Sisimpur characters sing and dance. I like Halum better. I came to see him. I will buy three books after their performance. Then I will return home with my father.”