Pune Book Festival 2023 Opens with Record-Breaking Feat and 600 Stalls

Join the Pune Book Festival from Dec 14-22 at Ferguson College Ground. Enjoy 600+ stalls, cultural events, workshops, and a free lit festival. Free entry for kids’ film screenings.

on Dec 17, 2024

The Pune Book Festival put together by the National Book Trust (NBT), begins today at 5:30 PM at Ferguson College Ground. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis will open the event. From December 14 to 22, the festival aims to offer a big celebration of books with 600 stalls for books, events showcasing culture, hands-on learning sessions, and movie showings.

Festival Highlights

Book Stalls & Releases: More than 600 stalls show books in many Indian languages. 80 new titles hit the shelves.

Free Lit Festival: Runs from December 20 to 22. Over 25 talks feature 60+ writers, poets, reporters, and big thinkers. Talks happen at Ferguson College's amphitheatre. Anyone can join.

Workshops for Students: Kids from schools can join free daily classes. They learn storytelling, painting, dance, music, and Vedic math. Classes run in the morning and afternoon.

Pune Children's Film Festival: Plays from December 14 to 18. Movies show from 12 PM to 4 PM. Kids watch for free.

World Record Achievement

The night before the festival, people set a Guinness World Record. They made a picture of Goddess Saraswati with books. The colorful artwork covered 1,000 square meters. Books came from Neelkanth Publications and NBT .

Neelam Gorhe hailed this monumental feat as something that comes after a lot of hard work. She also touched upon the issues of children using mobile phones and suggested that India must consider Australia's school phone ban.

Festival coordinator Bageshree Manthalkar said that last year's event had four Guinness World Records, and this year, the festival is looking to break five records.

NBT trustee Rajesh Pande said, "Starting with a world record reflects Pune's rich literary culture and deep connection with books."

The book stalls will be open from 10 AM to 10 PM daily, giving visitors an immersive and vibrant literary experience.