Calling all bookworms and enthusiastic readers, a series of book fairs and other winter festivals are set to take place in India, starting with the 47th edition of the Chennai Book Fair 2024, which was inaugurated in the capital city of Tamil Nadu on Wednesday.
Inaugurated by Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin, the Chennai Book Fair is being held at the YMCA grounds in Chennai's Nandanam till January 21.
As many as 915 stalls are set up at the venue, which will display and sell fiction and non-fiction books across different languages including Tamil and English, reports said.
Besides the regular publishers, 27 new members of the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI) have allocated their stalls in this edition.
Apart from the books, other literary events have also been planned by the organisers on all days to keep the visitors engaged.
Meanwhile, the Chennai International Book Fair, which was organised alongside the annual book fair earlier, will take place from January 16 to 18 this year.
Post this, readers can look forward to the 17th edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival 2024, which is expected to start on February 1.
As per the official website of the Jaipur Literature Festival, it will take place at Jaipur’s Hotel Clarks Amer and will continue till February 5.
This time, the
Jaipur Literature Festival will be witnessing over 2,000 speakers. Also, it will celebrate the linguistic diversity of a broader spectrum of languages including Assamese, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia, Punjabi, Tamil, and Urdu.
Also in the line is the much-anticipated
New Delhi World Book Fair (NDWBF), which takes place at the Pragati Maidan in the national capital. Organised by the National Book Trust, the NDWBF will be held from February 10 to 18.
National Book Trust will reportedly organise the book fair in collaboration with the India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO).
Moreover, the Agartala Book Fair -- the second largest in the Northeast in terms of footfall and sale proceeds -- will have its 42nd edition this year, beginning February 21.
The two-week-long fair will be held at the Hapania International Fairground and will be reportedly inaugurated by Chief Minister Manik Saha.
Also on the list is the
Kolkata Book Fair 2024, which will be held from January 18 to 31. This year, the book fair is expected to have over 1,000 stalls.
“This time due to tremendous pressure from participants, the number of stalls has been increased. In the 2023 fair, we had around 950 participants, for 2024 the number has exceeded 1,025. There will be many new participants with smaller booths,” The Hindu quoted Tridib Chatterjee of Publishers & Booksellers Guild as saying.
Apart from these book fairs in India, several popular festivals are coming up. These include the Bikaner Festival in Rajasthan, the Float Festival in Tamil Nadu, the Kerala Village Fair, the Goa Carnival, and the Dessert Festival.
(Edited by : Sudarsanan Mani)
