The highlights from the Curtain Raiser of the 46th International Kolkata Book Fair 2023 were announced in the presence of Tridib Kr Chatterjee, Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, and other eminent guests.

The highlights are as follows:

• Inauguration on 30^th January at 2 pm by Hon’ble Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee along with the Ms. Maria Jose Galvez Salvador, Director General of Books, Ministry of Culture, Spain in the august presence of Mr. Luis Garcia Montero, Poet & Director of Institute of Cervantes, Spain, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay eminent Bengali author, Ambassador of Spain, Mr. Jose Maria Ridao Dominguez.

• Shirsendu Mukhopaddhay will be conferred Life Time felicitation by CESC RPG Sristi Samman in the inaugural ceremony.

• The book fair will see the highest participation of book publishers and little magazines. Around 950 book publishers will take part in the book fair.

• The book fair will see participation from the highest number of multinational publishers. Publishers from all over India will be represented at the book fair.

• Around 20 countries participated including the USA, UK, France, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Australia, Iran, and many more. The latest country that has participated is Thailand. Bangladesh has around 70 publishers.

• There will be 9 Gates. The major gates are the Toledo Gate of Madrid, the National Library, the Biswa Bangla Gate of Netaji, Swamiji & Rabindranath, and the Agni Bina Gate.

• Metro East West, Direct Sealdah to Karunamayee & Central Park Station. Metro will run on both Sundays. A Special Book Fair Bus Service by Transport Department will be run and also a private bus service. Auto service and the fare has been fixed.

• Security measures by Police & Fire Service. CC TV connections, police deployment, fire tenders, bikes, and fire service persons along with firefighters.

• On the occasion of 100 years of ‘Abol Tabol’ publication, the pavilion will be portrayed with a drawing of Abol Tabol. Thousands of books will be distributed among the children free of cost on the first Sunday, 5 February at 4 pm from the Guild office. This is a tribute to Sukumar Roy.

• The guild will donate a good number of books to Senior citizens and also among the Specially abled children during fair days.

• Spanish Musicians will perform on the evening of 30 January. Dance troops will perform on the 7^th of February evening and another group of singers will perform on the 10^th of February evening in the Literary Festival.

• Bangladesh Day will be celebrated on the 4th February evening from 5.30 pm. Eminent authors from both countries will interact, and acclaimed singers and dancers will perform on the stage.

The 46th International Kolkata Book Fair 2023 is just around the corner and it is indeed a great time for book lovers in Kolkata.

Priyanka Dutta