The 12th edition of the Bangalore Book Festival being organised jointly by the Bangalore Books Sellers and Publishers Association and Indya Comics from October 19 to 25 will not just be about books but also cultural programmes and photo and cartoon exhibition at the Palace Grounds.
“The book fest will primarily showcase more than a million books, and to bring in a broader approach to the ‘world of book sale’ we thought an inclusion of cultural programmes and fine art exhibition would make the event a wholesome Dasara special,” said Nitin Shah, president, Bangalore Books and Publishers Association and Proprietor, Sapna Publishers. “The Department of Kannada & Culture would be organising the music and dance programmes, the Indian Institute of Cartoonists and the Karnataka Photographers’ Association will showcase their award winning works at the venue,” said Mr. Shah.
As many as 300 book stalls will exhibit a million books of 200 publishers. “Of the 200 publishers, 80 are from Karnataka,” he said.The book festival has always catered to a diversified crowd, say the authorities. “Just as we have celebrities asking for rare books on recipes, comics or even space technology, we once had a rare book stall that had a paper called ‘Karnataka Pareekshaka’ printed way back in the 1860. Even collectors can look forward to old manuscripts and printouts,” says B.S. Raghuram, Programme Director of Bangalore Book Festival, and a representative of Indya Comics.
But a mega event of this stature has to get government support, Mr. Shah said, adding: “We had a tough time getting the venue sanctioned”.
