International Kolkata Book Fair 2020 Blog

Let me tell you the history of Kolkata book fair in short. 

It was in 1975 when the first fair was organized with 56 stalls of 34 publishers at Maidan beside Victoria Memorial.

It was to promote reading habit among public and also to help booksellers and publishers to grow their business. Slowly with time the fair started getting fame and visitors from literature field all over the world started visiting the Kolkata book fair. Over the period of time, with its gaining popularity, Kolkata Book Fair got its international accreditation. Today, Kolkata book fair is the world’s largest non-trade book fair and Asia’s largest book fair.

Maidan was the best place for the fair because of large area and availability of conveyance.

I am sure most of the Bengali watching this video, share the same feeling. Maidan was a different emotion, a bag full of beautiful childhood memories.In 2008 the high-court ordered that the Book Fair could not be organized at Maidan because of the amount pollution it created. So sadly it was shifted to a different location.

This year the 44th International Kolkata Book Fair 2020 was held at Central Park Mela ground in Saltlake, Karunamayee. The theme was Russia.The book fair took place this year from 29th January to 9th February. The fair remained open from 12 pm to 08 pm. There was no entry fee to the fair. Yes ! You heard it right The entry  to the fair was absolutely free

After almost 10 year or more, I visited book fair. But again that feeling of Maidan book fair, the aura of open book stall was not there. The worst part was too much traffic, bad transport connectivity and lack of car parking space. After roaming around here and there looking for parking space, we finally parked our car 4 km away from the fair. The funniest part was we had to take an auto from the parking lot to the entrance due to the distance.Weekend made the fair overcrowded and it was so difficult for us to look at books or even go inside any stall.

Various cultural programs were organized inside the fair premises to entertain guests. Such activities have become an integral part of the fair over the years. The biggest difficulty one faces while visiting the fair  is the maddening crowd. With a total footfall of over 2 million people every year , it is the world's largest book fair by attendance.

book fair is probably the least cheapest place to buy books. The books were sold here at a discount of 10-20 % on MRP. One could get more discounts in the publishing houses located at College street, Kolkata.

For English Novels I generally prefer buying from online e-commerce platforms. I love the discount they provide on their sale day.

Along with the adults, there were shops for toddlers as well in the fair . Getting inside the popular book stalls was a difficult task. One has to stand in a long cue before getting their hands on the books.

A separate place has been dedicated for the food stalls to fulfill the demands of hungry bellies.

Police booths were well spread across the entire area to cater various emergencies.

There is no doubt that in the era of kindle and other e-book reader, the interest of buying printed books have declined drastically. Still the charm of Kolkata Book Fair remains unaltered. A  winter day-out amongst the sea of books of all genres, music, debates on various topics and delicious foods definitely makes the Kolkata Book Fair a must visit place.

Check out Youtube Video On THE INTERNATIONAL KOLKATA BOOKFAIR