After Durga Puja, the International Kolkata Book Fair is our state’s largest celebration. The 48th International Kolkata Book Fair is scheduled to start on January 28 and will continue till February 9, 2025. As in previous years, West Bengal’s Hon. Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee will officially inaugurate the fair. Prominent writers, poets, and academics will attend the inauguration as honored guests.

The location of the book fair is Karunamoyee, Salt Lake’s Boimela Prangan.

A press conference was organized to announce this upcoming book fair. Mr. Simon Kleinpass, Vice Consul of Germany in Kolkata, Ms. Astrid Wege, Director, Goethe Institute, Kolkata, Tridib Chatterjee,  President of the Publishers & Booksellers Guild, and other eminent guests graced the press conference.

The most popular non-trade book festival in the world is the International Kolkata Book Fair. The last book fair in 2024 drew 27 lakh book lovers, and Rs 23 crore worth of books were sold. Numerous new publishers have submitted applications to attend the next book fair, however, the number of stalls cannot be expanded from the previous year due to the fairground’s fixed size. They intend to improve the fairground’s tourist experience.

Germany, a nation with a rich literary and cultural heritage, will be the International Kolkata Book Fair 2025’s Focal Theme Country for the first time in the event’s history.

The famous Frankfurt Book Fair in Germany served as the inspiration for the first Kolkata Book Fair in 1976. The Publishers & Booksellers Guild’s founders were frequent attendees of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Later on, the International Kolkata Book Fair was also attended by representatives of the Frankfurt Book Fair. Additionally, the Guild participated as the representative organization of Eastern Indian publishers and authors in 1984 and 2006, when India was the FBF’s Theme Country.

Great Britain, the United States, France, Italy, Spain, Peru, Argentina, Colombia, and other Latin American countries are all taking part in the book fair, as is the case every year.

Publications from states like Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Bihar, Assam, Jharkhand, Telangana, Kerala, Odisha, and others, will also be a part of the fair. The Children’s Pavilion, the Little Magazine Pavilion, and other attractions will be present as usual.

In February 2025, the Kolkata Literature Festival (KLF), one of the highlights of the International Kolkata Book Fair, will take place.

The time of the book fair is 12 pm to 8 pm.

Priyanka Dutta