The Ekushey Book Fair became festive with the presence of a large crowd on Bhasha Shaheed Dibas and International Mother Language Day on Friday.
The fair was open at 8:00am and ended at 9:00pm.
Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan became crowded in the evening and the sale reached pick, said publishers.
Most of the visitors were in black attires to pay tribute to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement, now observed as International Mother Language Day.
Visitors also joined the cultural events, discussions and theatre festival at the fairground marking the Amar Ekushey.
Long queues were seen at every entry and exit point while police and other law enforcement agencies struggled to ensure security.
Young poet Rajia Sultana Nurin came with her friends to the fair in the evening and said that the fairground turned into a festival with the presence of a large number of people.
鈥楶eople walking, gossiping and eating in a book fair, it is nice to see the festivity among the people. Readers should buy their desired book among the crowd,鈥� said Nurin, adding that she did not watch any tension about security at the fairground.
Writers, poets and publishers were too busy to manage the readers who came to buy books.
Saurav Ghosh, a sales person of Panjeree Publications, said that at 7:30pm they could not take lunch because of the pressures of readers.
鈥楢 huge crowd visited the stall and sought different books at noon which still continues and the sale is three to four times higher than other days,鈥� said Saurav, adding that the sale in the morning hours was not as good as they expected.
Adarsha chief executive officer Mahabub Rahman said that the sale was higher than that of other days but less than the past year.
鈥楢 large number of crowds visit the fairground but sale is less compared to the past the year. Undoubtedly, the visitors create life for the fair,鈥� said Mahabub Rahman, hoping that readers would collect their desired books this week.聽
Record 307 new titles, including 80 collections of poems, 40 novels and 35 collections of short stories, were published on Friday at the fair, according to Bangla Academy officials.
A discussion on poet Kaykobad will be held on the academy premises on Saturday.
The fair will open today at 11:00am and end at 9:00pm.
