The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2025, themed "July Mass Uprising: Building a New Bangladesh (New Bangladesh Deconstruction)" will begin on Saturday.
A total of 708 publishing houses will participate in the fair, which will be inaugurated by Dr Muhammad Yunus, chief adviser of the interim government.
This year's book fair has 66 more stalls than last year. The structural setup work is almost complete, and while some of the decoration and arrangement work has been finished, some are still ongoing, which will be completed by Friday.
A total of 1,084 units have been allocated to 708 publishing houses this year, compared to last year's 642 publishers and 946 units. Of these, 99 publishers will be located in the Bangla Academy premises and 609 in the Suhrawardy Udyan area.
There will be 37 pavilions in total, with one in the Bangla Academy premises and 36 in Suhrawardy Udyan, the same number as last year.
The Little Magazine Corner has been set up near the open stage in Suhrawardy Udyan, with 130 stalls allocated for little magazines.
In the children's corner, 74 institutions have been allocated 120 units, up from last year's 68 institutions with 109 units.
While the fair's layout remains largely unchanged from last year, some structural modifications have been made.
Due to the metro rail, there have been some changes to the entry and exit points. The fair will have four entrance points: TSC, Doyel Chattar, MRT Basing Plant, and Engineering Institute.
The exit route has been relocated near the temple gate due to the metro rail station's location.
The fair will feature daily seminars at 4pm and cultural programs in the evening. “Children's Hour” will be held every Friday and Saturday from 11am to 1pm, except on February 8 and 15.
Various competitions for children, including art, recitation, and music, will be organized as part of the Amar Ekushey celebrations.
The fair will be open from 3pm to 9pm on regular days and from 11am to 9pm on holidays.
On February 21 (International Mother Language Day), the fair will operate from 8am to 9pm. No new visitors will be allowed entry after 8:30pm.
The academy will publish 43 new books and reprint 41 books for this year's fair. Several awards will be presented, including the Chittaranjan Saha Memorial Award for best publisher, Munir Chowdhury Memorial Award for artistic excellence, and Rokanuzzaman Khan Dadabhai Memorial Award for children's literature.
The fair will be polythene and smoking-free, with security provided by Bangladesh Police, RAB, Ansar, and various intelligence agencies, and all participating institutions will sell books on a 25% commission basis.
This information was shared at a press conference held on Thursday at the Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium of Bangla Academy. Sarkar Amin, Member Secretary of the Fair Management Committee, presented the written statement.
When asked about crowd management, Director General Mohammad Azam assured that while there are some concerns, security forces will remain vigilant.