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Ekushey book fair to end on Apr 12


Published : 10 Apr 2021 09:32 PM | Updated : 11 Apr 2021 12:37 AM

Amar Ekushey Book Fair will end on 12 April, two days before the scheduled date of its official closure, considering the recent spike in Covid-19 cases. 

The announcement was made by State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid at a press release on Saturday.

The decision was taken in line with the government’s plan to enforce a weeklong strict lockdown across the country starting from April 14 to control the surging transmission of the virus. 

The book fair remains open from 12pm to 5pm every day. Despite the ongoing government restriction on public movement and transport that began on April 5, Bangla Academy was allowed to go ahead with the fair.

The book fair was inaugurated on March 18 amid the pandemic. It failed to get its usual momentum as it went through oscillations from the very beginning coupled with the fear of publishers’ and sellers’ huge losses. 

A total of 540 institutions were given allotment to set stalls and pavilions for this year’s book fair. The authorities allotted 154 units on the Bangla Academy premises to 107 organisations and 680 units in the Suhrawardy Udyan to 433 organisations.