How’s the buzz at the International Book Festival in Ahmedabad?

As the city witnesses a nip in the air, book lovers make their way to the first edition of the Ahmedabad International Book Festival (AIBF) at Sabarmati Riverfront Event Centre.

The 9-day event featuring 340 book stalls set up by 147 exhibitors from 13 Indian states is organised by the National Book Trust (NBT), India, under the Union Ministry of Education, in collaboration with the Amdavad Municipal Corporation (AMC).

Gujarat Samachar Digital team was on the ground at the AIBF to find out what people thought about the festival.

Ardent book lover and student at CEPT University, Honey, says, “The fair is nice and you’ll have to walk to later sections for novels and fictional books.”

However, she thinks that the AIBF has a good collection, but “they haven’t advertised much”.

Kalpita, another CEPT student accompanying Honey, is more forthright when she says, “The sections look ‘chaotic at first’ but you’ll find your book after searching.”

A teacher at DPS, Neetu Bhardwaj, says, “They should have kept more time for the fair. On the weekdays, after work hours, one who has to visit the bookfair from 9-10 km away has no time to cherish it as it closes around 9 pm.”

“I suggest that the organisers should extend the days of the bookfair, as one needs time to explore the vast collection,” Bhardwaj added.

Some book revellers also emphasised that such a grand event should have a free drinking water facility and a place to sit while looking at some books.

“Till now, the response of Amdavadis is quite amazing as many people have turned up even on weekdays,” said Amit Kumar Singh, public relations head, NBT-India.

“On the weekend, almost 1.5 lakh people visited AIBF. On weekdays also, we see crowds after 3 pm,” Singh added.

About Ahmedabad’s reading culture, Singh said, “Amdavadis are curious, they know which books they want and find them"