The ongoing Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2026 drew a large crowd on Friday, as visitors flocked to the fairground during the weekly holiday while both new titles and sales increased on the day.

A record number of 199 new titles hit the fair on the ninth day of the fair, totalling the figure at 573 books published in this fair, according to academy officials.

The fair opened at 11:00am due to children’s hour while a huge number of children visitors gathered at the both parts of fairground — Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan — in the capital Dhaka.

A police official said that they experienced a huge gathering at the fairground on the day.

A salesperson of children-based publication Mayurpankhi at Suhrawardy Udyan said that sales increased with visitors swarming the fairground on the weekly holiday.

‘Maybe the highest number of visitors came today at the fair and we hope visitors will continue to come in the rest of the days of the fair for buying books,’ she said.

This year’s fair will last 18 days and end on March 15.

A Protikotha Publication salesperson also said that the fair became crowded on Friday.

Darikoma Prokashoni has brought 100 books of new writers. Young poet Tanmoy Sikdar said that the huge crowd created a festive atmosphere at the fairground.

A salesperson of Progoti Publishers, a children-based publication, said that all the day they were too busy to serve children.

In the morning, Kaktarua Puppet Theatre premiered their fourth production titled ‘Bonvromon’ based on a short story of Sharan Ahsan and directed by Asaduzzaman Ashik, depicting a journey to the Sundarban.

At the little mag corner, the Bangladesh Little Magazine Sampadak Parishad organised a seminar on 60’s little magazine. Sadat Ullah Khan presented the keynote titled ‘Shat Doshoker Little Magazine’ while renowned editors, including Abdur Rahim, Soummo Salek, Souhardo Siraj and Roksana Rahman, spoke at the event chaired by Parvez Hossian.

A discussion on Tagore exponent Kalim Sharafi was held on the main stage of the fairground in the afternoon.

Jagannath University music department chair and renowned Tagore singer Anima Roy delivered the keynote.

Writer Mridul Mahbub and Ehsan Mahmud spoke at an event titled ‘Ami Lekhak Balchi’ on the Suhrawardy Udyan premises in the evening.