Visitors, mostly youths, came in traditional and colourful attires at the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair in Dhaka on Thursday, a day before the spring, amid tightened security.
Boys, girls and families were seen flocking to bookstalls wearing colourful dresses, mostly yellow and orange, as well as floral headbands on the 13th day of the fair. 聽
The first day of the spring will fall on Friday which will also be celebrated as Shishu Prahar.
As the holy Shab-e-Barat will be observed on the night of February 14, so the fair will start at 11:00am and end at 7.30pm, said book fair organising committee member secretary Sarkar Amin. 聽
鈥榃e have requested the police and other law enforcement agencies to take special security measures on the first day of the spring and Valentine鈥檚 Day as a large number of visitors enter the fairground to celebrate the day,鈥� Sarkar Amin said.
Publishers said that they hoped visitors would also buy books to celebrate the day.
Sirajul Kabir Chowdhury, director of Anyaprokash said that they hoped that youths would read classic authors鈥� books along with the contemporary ones.
鈥榃e have published at least 50 contemporary popular writers鈥� books this year for youths which comprise novels, articles and poetry but I hope they will also show their interest in our classic writers鈥� work,鈥� Sirajul Kabir Chowdhury said, adding that they have published book for all age groups but youths are always high on the list of their priority.
Monirul Islam, the owner of the Royal Publication, a youth based publishing house, said that they published at least 50 books targeting the youths. 聽 聽 聽
鈥榃e hope a huge number of visitors will buy our books to celebrate spring and Valentine鈥檚 Day,鈥� Monirul Islam said.
On Thursday, 85 books were launched at the fair. Of them, 28 were collections of poems, 14 were novels and eight were short stories.
A discussion on Ahmed Sofa will be held on the academy premises on Friday.