Although the number of crowd slowly lit up the festive mode in the late afternoon and evening till 8pm - the ground was not heavily crowded.
While many stalls had already started selling books on the inaugural day, a large number of stalls are either half-done or semi-done, which are expecting to be ready within the morning of the second day.
“We are not getting massive crowd on the first Sunday,”
When asked about the atmosphere, Tanjila, a student of the College of Home Economics, said “The fair was centered only the Bangla Academy in previous years, and sometimes it felt overcrowded. Ever since it started to share the Sohrawardi Ground, the fair started to feel fresh and more ‘breathable’- and we came today despite all the stalls are not fully complete, but could not wait as we awaited a full year to welcome this fair”.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina officially inaugurated the month-long fair on Sunday afternoon.
Breaking the habit, this year’s fair began on February 2 instead of February 1, due to the Dhaka North and South City Corporation Elections.
The fair will remain open from 3pm to 8:30pm on weekdays, from 11am to 8:30pm on weekends, and from 8am to 9pm on February 21 – International Mother Language Day, according to the organisers.
This year, the month-long festivity is scheduled to sign-off on February 29, as this year’s February is a leap-year.
Also, this year’s fair is dedicated to the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, marking the occasion of his birth centenary as the Mujib-Borsho (Mujib-Year).