26th Sonarpur Book Fair

With 25 years of unbroken history, the Sonarpur Book Fair is one of the great events of the state, often called the most popular book fair after the Kolkata Book Fair. Each year a district of the state is chosen as the theme, and the fair grounds reflect its history, heritage and people. The 26th fair ran from 11 to 20 December 2015 with the theme Purba Medinipur.

Purba Medinipur was formed on 1 January 2002 when Midnapur was divided, and it is the closest neighbour of our own district, South 24 Parganas. Its headquarters, Tamluk, recalls the ancient port city of Tamralipta and the National Tamralipta Government set up during the Quit India Movement.

At the fair

• A main complex with about a hundred bookstalls, the theme pavilion, the children’s pavilion and the little magazine pavilion
• Education park and science pavilion
• Government and corporate stalls
• Amusement park and food park
• A cultural stage for a thousand spectators, and an open-air stage

Programme

• Daily evening quiz: 11–20 December
• Run for Books: 13 December, from Champahati
• Sit-and-draw competition: 13 December, 1 pm; extempore speech: 13 December, 5 pm
• Seminars on burning issues: 15 and 18 December, 7 pm
• General quiz and mock assembly session: 19 December
• School quiz: 20 December, 2 pm