Book fair might end on either Feb 10 or 13

on Nov 10, 2021

The executive committee meeting of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild tentatively decided on Tuesday that the International Kolkata Book Fair might end either on February 10 or 13. Guild officials however said that the members were divided in their opinion about the duration of the fair and a few more meetings were needed. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has given a green signal to the fair and announced on Monday that the fair would start from January 31. The Guild will make formal announcements on Friday.

Covid related safety precautions remained the focus of the EC meeting and members suggested that just like pandals with three sides open were in vogue this time, book stalls might also follow that same route. While the Guild might not cut down on the number of stalls, it is likely that the space allotted to them will reduce so that a lot of space is kept around them for better people movement. Some publishers re allotted huge spaces to set up ther stalls as part of the fair tradition but this time such large stalls might not be set up, members who attended the meeting said.

Architects have been invited by the Guild who will suggest the new layout of spaced out stalls and the possibility of open stalls. “The possibility of rains cannot be ruled out because it often rains during the fair. So we will have to check feasibility of open stalls,” said president of the Guild, Sudhangshu Dey. “Bangladesh is the theme country this time but we will have to see how many days participants from there would be willing to stay. Covid has changed everything and the biggest challenge would be to negotiate the health posers so that the fair can finally happen,” Dey added.

The Guild might also mull the possibility of staggered entry to keep the numbers low. Only those who have received both the vaccines will be allowed inside the fair premises. Children’s vaccination is also a major cause of concern, Guild members felt because it would be risky to allow unvaccinated kids into the fairground. “One EC meeting is not enough to take a call on such multiple challenges. We will now debate on all the suggestions and finally arrive at a solution,” said Guild general secretary, Tridib Chatterjee.