The 46th edition of the Kolkata Book Fair, also known as the Boi Mela, was opened to the public on January 31 after its inauguration by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on January 30.
The iconic Kolkata Book Fair is said to be the second largest in terms of size and attendance after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the second largest book fair in the world. Despite the pandemic, last year's book fair drew 20 lakh visitors. This year, over a lakh people thronged the book fair on the opening day itself.
Over 1 lakh titles of books ranging from theology to Marxism, literature, oceanography, and solid state physics are on sale in this book fair, which the discerned book lovers patronise every year.
The fair will be open to visitors between January 31 and February 12. The parallel event, the 9th Kolkata Literature Festival, will run from February 9 to 11 at the SBI Auditorium.
Countries taking part
Around 20 countries across the globe will be participating in this year's Boi Mela. Spain is the focal country this year. Appearing as the theme country for the second time.
The United States of America, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Japan, France, Cuba, Italy, Australia, and a number of other Latin American nations will all be represented in the Book Fair. Thailand will be taking part for the first time.
Stalls
This year, the visitors will get to see around 900 stalls, of which 700 will be devoted to books and 200 will be dedicated to Bengal's famous little magazine genre; these stalls are named after author and editor Ramapada Choudhury to commemorate his birth centenary.
The fair will have several Jute Board-sponsored kiosks to reduce plastics, and bio-toilets.
Important note for visitors
There are nine entry and exit gates in the IBKF 23 for easy movement of visitors. One of the gates is a replica of the famous Toledo Gate of Spain. Among other gates, there will be the Biswabangla Gate, based on the brand promoted by the Mamata Banerjee-led state government.
The two main halls (pavilions) of the book fair, having mainly English publications, have been named after poets Michael Madhusudan Dutta and Pyaricharan Sarkar to commemorate the bicentenary of their births. The Little Magazine stalls will be named after author and editor Ramapada Choudhury to observe his birth centenary.
There will also be a WiFi-enabled HDFC ERGO press corner and two open stages named after departed filmmakers Mrinal Sen and Tarun Majumdar. The children’s pavilion will be based on the characters of ‘Abol Tabol’ (a legendary limerick book written by Sukumar Roy, father of filmmaker Satyajit Roy), to celebrate 100 years of its publication.
Where: Boimela Prangan, Central Park Mela Ground, Karunamoyee, Salt Lake
When: January 31 to February 12, 2023
Timings: 12 pm to 8 pm
