Gomti Book Festival Engages Lucknow with Books and Activities

The Gomti Book Festival in Lucknow offers workshops, storytelling, films, and diverse books for all ages, with 150+ stalls from renowned publishers across India.

on Nov 11, 2024

The second day of the Gomti Book Festival in Lucknow offered a vibrant mix of activities for children, readers, and visitors, featuring workshops, storytelling, and even the screening of the short film "Agastya," directed by Gaurav Kulshresta and Ragvendra Pandav. One of the highlights was the engaging workshop "Seekhe aur Abhinay Kare," led by theatre artist Muskan Sharma, where children were taught to express various emotions on stage through interactive activities. According to one of the organizers, Sharma introduced the children to the art of acting, helping them understand the nuances of expression and the sounds of words.

Children were drawn to the stalls offering storybooks, coloring books, and quiz books, while young adults gravitated toward fiction, Hindi and Urdu literature, poetry, and self-help books. Riya Singh, a 20-year-old visitor, was thrilled with the extensive collection of works by renowned Indian authors like Ismat Chugtai, Amrita Pritam, and Mirza Ghalib, which she had struggled to find online.

Rehaana Topiwala, visiting with her ten-year-old son, found a range of children's activity books and Hindi fiction. She appreciated the diverse offerings, noting that you could find exactly what you were looking for on the festival shelves.

Stalls from notable publishers such as Crossword, Eklavya Foundation, Rekhta Foundation, Vani Prakashan, Vishwa Sahitya Sewa Trust, Urdu Akademi, and Pan Macmillan were part of the event. This year's festival theme celebrates various storytelling arts, including film festivals, puppetry, poetry, dastangoi, dance drama, and creative writing, along with a Children's Film Festival.

Amit Singh,manager sales and marketing, NBT, shared that the festival, which runs until November 17, is divided into sections like Children's Corner, Book Street, Lekhakganj, Youth Corner, and Digital Reading Corner. With around 150 stalls from publishers across India, the event, organized jointly by the National Book Trust (NBT) and the Union Ministry of Education, is drawing crowds of all ages.