The Vijayawada Book Festival Society (VBFS) will organise the 26 national book festival at Swaraj Maidan (PWD Grounds) from January 1 to 11, said the society president S. Rama Rao.
Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao will inaugurate the festival at Bapu Sahitya Vedika, at 5 p.m. on Thursday. Sahitya Akademi awardee Katyayani Vidmahe, Vijayawada Central MLA Bonda Umamaheswara Rao, Joint Collector J. Murali and others will participate in the inaugural function, he said.
The festival would feature meetings to condole the demise of Navaratna Murthy and Bapu and centenary celebrations of Chaganti Somayajulu, Palagummi Padmaraju and Vidwan Viswam besides book lovers walking, said society vice-president G. Lakshmi.
390 stallsAs many as 390 stalls have been registered for the book festival this year compared to 300 of the previous edition. Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister Nimmakayala Chinnarajappa will attend the valedictory programme, she said.
Sahitya Akademi, National Book Trust of India, Telugu Academy, Sri Potti Sriramulu Telugu University, Dravida University, Indira Gandhi National Open University and other organisations will take part in the 11-day event. Twenty-six new publications will be released during the festival, said VBFS secretary S. Venkata Narayana.
Besides, many educational institutions, law publications, media organisations, Bala Sahitya Publications and other organisations were expected to participate in the book festival, he said.
State-level festivalEarlier, the society organised book festivals at Visakhapatnam, Tirupati and Rajahmundry. From 2015, VBFS will organise festivals in all the districts and the State-level festival will be organised in Guntur district in February, said the society president.
Students, children, book lovers, writers, littérateurs, educationists and others were requested to visit the festival, purchase books of their choice and encourage writers and publishers, said the organisers.
VBFS joint secretary L. Narasa Reddy, treasurer K. Ravi advisory committee R. Ramaswamy, B. Babjee and others were present.
