Weekend boosts attendance on 4th day of book fair

The book fair received a huge turnout on Saturday, with people of all ages at the Suhrawardy Udyan and Bangla Academy premises, as it stayed open from 11:00am to 8:30pm on Saturday as scheduled. Those in attendance included a number of prominent writers and publishers. The weekend brought additional opportunity for children in its “Shishu-Prohor” on the fairground. Children came with their parents to enjoy the fair and special event, which included animal shaped decorations around the fairground space, as well as books and comics to encourage reading, said visitors and organisers. Meanwhile, the last day of the four-day long international conference on Translated Literature, Youth Literature and Bangla Drama and Literature was also held on the Bangla Academy premises throughout the day, with Prof Khaliquzzaman Elias, Prof Hayat Mahmud and Rashed Rouf among the speakers. Later, a poem recitation programme was also held, where noted poets participated. On the fifth day of the fair, a seminar on Ahsan Habib marking his 100thbirth anniversary and a cultural event will take place at the Bangla Academy premises. At the fair, government sponsored publications have set up their stalls at Bangla Academy premises, while the stalls of private publications are at the park area of Suhrawardy Udyan. A total of 663 stalls have been allocated to 409 publishing houses. The book fair will remain open from 3pm to 8:30pm every day, and from 11am to 8:30pm on holidays and weekends.