Organizers said on Monday that the International Kolkata Book Fair was postponed by a month due to a rise in COVID-19 cases and municipal elections and will now start from February 28.
Publishers and Book Sellers Guild President Tridib Chatterjee told PTI that the decision was taken after consultation with the state government.
Bangladesh Theme
The theme country of this year’s book fair is Bangladesh.
Mr Chatterjee said, “The fair will continue for 12 days from February 28 as the situation in Kovid has not improved much yet and the elections to the Vidhannagar Municipal Corporation are to be held on February 12.”
The book fair, a hugely popular event, will be held at Central Park in Bidhannagar, near Kolkata in North 24 Parganas district.
It was earlier scheduled to be held from January 31 to February 12 after it failed to take off in 2021 due to the pandemic.
“We expect the situation to be more favorable in late February and March,” the guild president said.
small stall
Mr Chatterjee had earlier said that all the guidelines of the state government would be followed during the fair and each stall would be around 35 per cent smaller to have more open space on the ground to avoid overcrowding.
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