It’s that time of the year. As Kolkata enters the last leg of winter, the city’s gearing up for its favourite and one of the most awaited events, International Book Fair Kolkata 2023. The peak of Bengali energy, tens and thousands of books and food loving Bengalis gather at one place to do what they love most.
Not just Kolkatans, but bibliophiles from all around the world flock to the City of Joy to witness the frenzy at Kolkata Book Fair every year. The event is visited not just by the common people, but people from every walk of life – poets, authors, actors, politicians, social workers and who not. We are just in time to tell you everything you need to know about the International Kolkata Book Fair 2023- timings, dates, venues, how to reach and more. Whether you’re a regular or it’s your first time, this is the only guide you’re going to need for the 2023 edition of Book Fair in Kolkata.
All you need to know about International Kolkata Book Fair 2023
Date and timings
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Kolkata is all set and ready to host the 46th edition of International Kolkata Book Fair 2023. This year, the event is going to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee at IST 2 pm with Mara José Gálvez Salvador, from the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports.
Venue: Boimela Prangan, Central Park Mela Ground, Karunamoyee, Salt Lake
Dates: 31 January to 12 February, 2023
Timings: 12:00 pm to 8:00 pm
How to reach the International Kolkata Book Fair 2023?
For the first time ever, the Book Fair will have metro connectivity, via the Sealdah-Sector V route. This has made the Book Fair even more accessible for people from the farthest corners of the city. Tridib Kumar Chatterjee, the Secretary General of the Guild, has revealed that they have put in a request with the Kolkata Metro authorities for the metros to run on Sundays as well.
Apart from this, there are several Book Fair special buses that run in Kolkata during this time from several parts of the city. These special buses will be available from the following parts of Kolkata:
- Howrah Railway station
- Esplanade (Dharmatala)
- Dum Dum Railway station
- Sealdah Railway station
- Santragachi Railway station
- Joka and Belala
- Garia
- Sovabazar
- Jadavpur 8 B bus stand
- Chingrighata More
- Ultadanga
- Dunlop More
If you miss these buses, you can either reach Ultadanga, or E.M Bypass and take an auto ride directly to the venue. Or you can take an auto from Bidhannagar station to the fair premises.
What is the theme of Kolkata Book Fair 2023?
Every year, the Kolkata Book Fair has a focal theme, on which the event is based. For its 46th edition this year, the theme is Spain. This is the second time Spain is appearing as the theme country, after the first time in 2006.
Spanish authors and writers David Trueba, Eva Baltasar, Luis Garcia Montero, Agustin Fernandez Mayo, Jesus Aguado, Anna Caballe, and Jordi Gracia will be present at the event to represent Spain.
All about the book stalls
The major attraction of the event every year is the number of book stalls across the fair premises, or as we Bengalis like to call it, mela prangan. This year, it will feature 900 hundred stalls from all over India and over 20 countries around the world.
The second largest book fair in the world after the Frankfurt Book Fair, the 46th Kolkata Book Fair will host nations like the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Bangladesh, Japan, France, Cuba, Italy, Australia, and several other Latin American countries.
This is the first time Thailand will be participating.
The Book Fair will also feature separate pavilions for all the major international publishing houses like Harper Collins, Penguin Random House India, Pan Macmillan, Rupa, Bloomsbury and many others.
All Images: Courtesy Instagram; Hero Image: Courtesy Pinakpani, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Answer: Central Park Mela Ground at Karunamoyee, Salt Lake Sector III.
Answer: In 2005, the Kolkata Book Fair had around 600 stalls.
Answer: The Kolkata Literature Festival is an extension of the Book Fair. It's a sub-event during the Book Fair, which is held across two to three days. It features talks, conversations, special panel discussions, live performances and author meets, and more.
A journalism student who studied the subject only to meet SRK in person, she settled for the best way to meet him. Covering Entertainment throughout her career, and now Food, Health and Lifestyle as well, Sreetama is also a self-proclaimed plant mom. In love with all things slow and quiet, she can often be found hunting for quiet corners with a glass of wine in hand. Other loves include little, inconsequential things, like neatly tucked-in bedsheets and big, significant things, like whole cheesecakes. She dreams of being a baker and writing about food someday.
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