3 Lakh Visit the Book Fair on the First Sunday

Record attendance at Kolkata International Book Fair's first Sunday, boosted by East-West Metro services and additional transportation options.

on Jan 22, 2024

3 Lakh Visit the Book Fair on the First Sunday

The first Sunday of the Kolkata International Book Fair saw record attendance, as expected, with book lovers flocking to the Salt Lake Central Park fairground from all over the city.

The East-West Metro services contributed to an increase in visitor numbers throughout the day.
On Sunday, additional bus services were provided by the Transportation Department.

According to the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, more than three lakh persons attended the book fair on Sunday.

According to guild officials, the book expo drew a crowd as early as 12 noon on Sunday, which is unusual for prior years. "Previously, we have observed that the audience surges after 2.30 to 3pm. Today, there was already a large crowd as early as 12 p.m., when the book booths opened for the day," remarked an official.

"We have two holidays this week, followed by the weekend. We anticipate that all prior records will be broken. People are attending the book fair," remarked a guild representative.

Separate entry and exit gates have been in place since the Metro station as guests entered the fairgrounds coming down from the Central Park end of Karunamoyee Metro station.

TOI discovered a bunch of teenagers performing Cosplay at the fair as well. They've been doing this for two years to raise awareness about Cosplay art. Visitors scanned QR codes at entry gates to access the guild's new digital ground map.

While some found the service useful for navigating the fair, others found it challenging due to limited zooming capabilities on the maps.

Kritika Pal, who came from Dunlop, said it was good for the environment, but having some physical copies could have been useful for the elderly who are unfamiliar with digital content.