Their parents were able to bring them to the fair from morning onward as the day fell on a weekend. The book fair runs from 11am to 8:30pm over the weekend.
In the morning, primary selection rounds were held for a “General knowledge competition” and “Instant public speech competition” at Bangla Academy. A total of 90 young people took part in the former with 26 participating in the latter.
Prof Muhammad Selim, Prof Anjuman Ara, and Mubarak Hossain judged both competitions.
A seminar on “Abdul Gofur Hali: Life and work” was held in the evening with Nasir Uddin Haidar presenting the keynote paper. Rahman Nasir Uddin and Saimon Zakaria spoke at the seminar which was presided over by Shamsul Hossain.
In the keynote paper, Haidar said the folklore artist was a man of love who placed the human above all thought. His songs regard love, nature, victory of the human, art, and so on as foremost, beliefs which not only attract artists, litterateurs, and researchers from Bangladesh but around the world.
The self-educated saint founded “Maiz Bhandari” which has enriched the country’s folkloric history, said the speakers. They added that the saint’s life and works need to be researched more thoroughly for the sake of art and literature.
Children were enthralled with the animal-shaped books and picture books on display at the fair. They also enjoyed the Children’s Corner as it is decorated with scenes of the popular TV play “Sisimpur,” with the characters on hand to meet the children and play with them.
The weekend saw book sales soar once again with an increasing number of visitors, especially children. A total of 201 new titles hit the bookshelves with 62 being formally unveiled at the fair.
Tuesday, July 21, 2026
