After 9 days, the 47th International Kolkata Book Fair will be inaugurated on 18 January 2024 at 4 pm at the Boimela Prangan, Salt Lake, by Hon’ble Chief Minister Smt. Mamata Banerjee, Alex Ellis CMG, British High Commissioner to India, Alison Barrett MBE, Director, British Council, India, Bani Basu, eminent author, and other eminent guests.

The highlights of this year’s International Kolkata Book Fair are as follows:

1. There will be around 1000 stalls and Little Magazines.

2. Senior Citizen’s Day, ‘Chiro Tarun’ will be celebrated on 24 January. An interactive session between a senior author, senior publisher, and senior reader namely, Abul Basar, Debajyoti Datta, and Saswati Adhikari, will be organized on that day.

3. There will be nine entry and exit gates in the IKBF 2024. The gates will be the replica of London Tower Bridge, Bethune School, and Biswa Bangla Gate, and two gates will be named after Tarashankar Bandyopadhyay and Federico García Lorca.

4. The two big halls of the Book Fair have been named after Samares Mazumdar and A.S. Byatt. The Little Magazine Pavilions will be named after Sandip Dutta, the HDFC Ergo Press Corner and two Mukta Mancha (Open stage) will be named after Nirendranath Chakraborty and Samaresh Basu. The Children’s Pavilion will be based on the characters of Pandab Goenda in memory of Sashtipada Chattopadhyay.

5. The Transport Department, Government of West Bengal will provide additional bus services. There will be a special Metro from Sealdah and the service will also be there on the holidays. With the help of Bidhannagar Police, the auto fare will also be fixed for the Book Fair.

6. A special medical assistance service with ambulance by Peerless Hospitex Hospital And Research Centre Limited,-­ the Health Partner of IKBF 2024.

7. The International Kolkata Book Fair 2024 android app to locate any stall in the fair, created by CESC will be available.

8. Around 20 Countries across the globe will participate in the International Kolkata Book Fair 2024.

9. There will be a well-decorated CESC Corner for eminent guests of the Book Fair. The daily lottery will be held from there, where CESC will distribute a Book Gift Coupon worth Rs 15,000/- per day to the lucky winners.

The ‘Book Bumper Library lottery’ will be organized and the winners will win a Book Gift Coupon of Rs 25,000/- each.

Dr. Rama Prasad Goenka CESC Sristi Samman 2024′ will be awarded to Bani Basu.

IKBF 2024 will have a virtual live presence through the website and social media pages of the Book Fair. Those who live abroad can enjoy Book Fair’s programs online.

For the first time, a special digital ground map with the participant list of the IKBF 2024 will be available just by scanning the QR Code at all the entry points of the Book Fair.

The major attraction of the International Kolkata Book Fair is the 10th Kolkata Literature Festival which will be held inside the SBI auditorium, from 26 to 28 January 2024.

Priyanka Dutta