Sudden spring rain disrupts sale at Ekushey Book Fair as visitors scramble for cover

The sudden shower at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair in the evening has caused visitors to rush to safe shelters.

Sales staff have scrambled to protect books, disrupting sales activity.

The publishing house authorities predicted rain on Saturday, based on the cloudy sky and changing winds.

They had already taken steps to protect the books, avoiding any losses.

Visitors and buyers faced inconvenience at the fair the day after the International Mother Language Day and Martyrs Day.

Coincidentally, last year’s fair also experienced rain on the same date.

The book fair opened at 11am on Saturday and continued until 9pm.

At 10:30am, winners of children’s drawing, recitation, and music competitions were awarded on the main stage.

From 11am to 1pm, the fair hosted a dedicated “Sishu Prohor”, or Children’s Hour.

While the turnout in the morning was moderate, crowds increased in the afternoon.

However, around 6pm, light rain was accompanied by strong winds, forcing stall attendants to abandon sales and focus on securing books.

Some covered them with polythene sheets, while others used tarpaulins.

The fair’s information centre had also warned publishing house authorities about the possibility of rain on Saturday.

As the rain began in the evening, visitors hurried to find shelter.

The wind scattered banners and festoons, and announcements were made over the loudspeakers for people to seek shelter under the “Lekhok Bolchi”, or Writers’ Talk, stage and the information centre’s canopy.

Some people even took shelter at the nearby metro rail station in front of the Bangla Academy.

Amjad Hossain Kajol, manager of the publishing house "Oitijjhya", said: "Rain will surely disrupt the fair. We were hoping for no rain during the fair."

Despite the hour-long rain, there was not much damage, according to Sheikh Yunus, marketing officer of "Kathapraokash".

"Sales were going well before the rain started. After the rain stopped, the crowd thinned out, but some of the visitors did buy books."

Some stalls covered their books with tarpaulins, while others continued to display books, waiting for customers.

Abu Sayed, publisher of “Swapno 71”, told bdnews24.com: "Water leaked through the roof of our stall, damaging 20-25 books. Sales have been slow after the rain."

According to the book fair’s public relations department, 144 new books were added to the fair on Saturday.

WHAT’S ON SUNDAY

On Sunday, the 23rd day of the book fair, the event will begin at 3pm and run until 9pm.

At 4pm, a discussion titled “Mass Uprising and Women” will be held on the main stage.

Mirza Taslima Sultana will present the paper, with Shaolee Mahboob and Musharrat Sharmee Hossain participating in the discussion.

The session will be chaired by Rehnuma Ahmed.