After delays and disputes, Ekushey Book Fair opens Thursday with Bangla Academy awards

Bookworms are ready to welcome back the beloved literary festival as the Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2026 opens Thursday afternoon after repeated postponements.

Publishers rush to complete their stalls, while Bangla Academy prepares to host the official ceremony that will mark the start of a month-long literary extravaganza.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman will inaugurate the fair at 2pm, presenting the prestigious Bangla Academy Literary Awards 2025 and later touring the fairgrounds.

The fair’s theme, “Multidimensional Bangladesh”, signals a celebration of the nation’s rich literary and cultural fabric.

Traditionally, the fair is inaugurated on the first day of February, the month of the Language Movement.

This year, however, the authorities initially planned to hold it in December, citing the national elections and Ramadan.

The schedule was later revised twice before settling on Feb 26.

The list of Bangla Academy Literary Award winners for 2025 was announced on Monday by the academy’s public relations department.

The awardees are Mohon Raihan for poetry, Nasima Anis for fiction, Syed Azizul Haque for essays and prose, Hasan Hafiz for children’s literature, Ali Ahmad for translation, Mustafa Majid and Israil Khan for research, Farseem Mannan Mohammedy for science writing, and Muyeedul Hasan for works on the Liberation War.

Bangla Academy Director General Prof Mohammad Azam will deliver the welcome speech at the opening ceremony.

Cultural Affairs Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury and State Minister Ali Newaz Mahmud Khayyam will attend as special guests.

Cultural Affairs Secretary Md Mofidur Rahman and Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association President Md Rezaul Karim Badsha will offer greetings, while Bangla Academy President Prof Abul Quasem Fazlul Huq will preside over the event.

Organisers hope the fair will contribute to building a knowledge-based, humane and inclusive democratic Bangladesh.

“We expect this year’s fair to become a vibrant gathering of readers and writers. We seek everyone’s cooperation,” Azam said.

549 Publishers Join the Fair

This year’s Ekushey Book Fair will again spread across Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan, with 549 publishing houses taking part.

Of them, 81 will be based at Bangla Academy and 468 at Suhrawardy Udyan, occupying a total of 1,018 units.

Last year, 708 publishers joined with 1,084 units, meaning participation has dropped this year, according to the fair management committee.

A dedicated Little Magazine corner will be set up under the trees near the open stage at Suhrawardy Udyan, with stalls for 87 magazines.

The children’s section will host 63 organisations across 107 units.

Selim Reza, member-secretary of the fair organising committee, said the layout remains unchanged from last year, though some design adjustments have been made.

He added that arrangements for Taraweeh prayers will be available at Suhrawardy Udyan during Ramadan.

Schedule

The book fair will continue until Mar 15 this year.

The fair will remain open from 2pm to 9pm daily, except holidays when it will start at 11am. Entry will close at 8:30pm.

Each day, seminars will be held from 3pm to 4pm at the main stage, followed by cultural programmes from 4pm to 5pm.

On Fridays and Saturdays, a special children’s hour will run from 11am to 1pm, featuring art, recitation and music competitions.

Food stalls will again line the boundary of the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh grounds.

Books will be sold at a 25 per cent commission by Bangla Academy and participating publishers, while government institutions will follow their own rates.

New book launches will take place at Suhrawardy Udyan.

Entry and exit points will have multiple archways, with security managed by Bangladesh Police, Rapid Action Battalion, Ansar and intelligence agencies. CCTV cameras will monitor the grounds.

The fair will remain free of polythene and smoking, organisers said.

New Award for Debut Publishers

The Book Fair will recognise publishers with several awards for quality and design, organisers have announced.

The Chittaranjan Saha Memorial Award will go to the publisher of the best book of 2025 judged on quality.

Three publishers will receive the Munir Chowdhury Memorial Award for artistic excellence in books released at the fair.

The Rokonuzzaman Khan Dadabhai Memorial Award will honour one publisher for outstanding children’s books published in 2025, while the Qayyum Chowdhury Memorial Award will go to the best‑decorated stall.

A new prize -– the Sardar Joyen Uddin Memorial Award -– will be introduced this year.

It will recognise new publishers participating for the first time in 2024 or 2025, with first, second and third prizes awarded based on the quality and number of books published.

Bangla Academy said Bortoman Bangla Ltd is serving as management partner for the 2026 fair.

Why the Delay

Initially, Bangla Academy planned to advance the fair to December, before the national election.

But on Sept 28 last year, it announced the plan was suspended.

Following a meeting with the Bangladesh Publishers and Booksellers Association (BAPUS) on Nov 2, the academy decided to hold the fair in February, after the election.

The Election Commission later set Feb 12 for the polls and referendum.

Bangla Academy then announced the fair would begin on Feb 20.

Publishers, however, demanded it be held after Eid, while BAPUS President Rezaul Karim Badsha suggested starting on Feb 21 to align with Language Martyrs’ Day.

Eventually, the academy declared Feb 25 as the start date, but organisers later confirmed Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had given time on Feb 26 instead.

Ekushey Fair’s Journey Since 1972

In 1972, Chittaranjan Saha, founder of publishing house Muktodhara, laid out mats at the Bangla Academy gate on Feb 21 and began selling books to commemorate Language Day.

In 1974, Muktodhara set up a small stall inside the academy during the Ekushey programme.

By 1977, other publishers joined in, marking the informal start of the fair.

Bangla Academy’s then director general Ashraf Siddiqui formally linked the academy to the fair in 1978, and the BAPUS joined the following year.

Although plans were drawn up in 1983 under DG Manzure Mawla to launch the “Amar Ekushey Granthamela”, it was only in 1984 that the fair began officially at Bangla Academy grounds under a set policy.

Over the decades, the fair has become a month‑long celebration of language and literature.

In 2020, former prime minister Sheikh Hasina suggested “Boi Mela” was a more reader‑friendly term than “Granthamela”.

From 2021, the event was formally renamed Amar Ekushey Boi Mela.