Book Fair at Maidan.

The Kolkata Book Fair or the 'Kolkata Boi Mela' is an intrinsic component of winters in Kolkata. It is an exceptional book fair in the sense that it is the largest non-trade book fair in the world. It is also the largest book fair in Asia and the most attended book fair in the world. It is the world's third largest yearly assortment of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair.

What gives the fair its unique flavour is the typical blend of picnickers, singer-songwriters, artists and food vendors who visit it. The Kolkata Book Fair was an off shoot of the first World Book Fair held at New Delhi in 1972, and has till then, inspired many book fairs including the one held in Siliguri, West Bengal each year.

The popularity of the Kolkata Book Fair was seminal in India being nominated the guest of honour at the Frankfurt Book Fair in 2006, according to the Frankfurt Book Fair organisers. The book fair has been celebrated in theatre, literature, songs and limericks in Kolkata.

The book fair was originally started on small scale in 1976 by the Kolkata Publishers' and Booksellers' Guild in order to meet the growing public demand for books and the lack of bookshops in Kolkata. Today, even though Kolkata boasts of some of the largest book shops in the country, the seminal growth of the fair continues.

Conventionally, the book fair commences on the last Wednesday of January, and ends on the first Sunday of February. It was initially a week-long event but popular demand forced the authorities to extend the duration to twelve days in 2005.

Initially, the fair was held on the Park Street end of the Maidan, though now there are talks to shift its venue to the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass, keeping in view the environmental causes. During the 1980s and early 1990s, there were two annual book fairs in Kolkata. One was held by the Kolkata Publishers' and Booksellers' Guild whereas the other was organised by the Government of West Bengal. It was called the 'Grontho Mela' ('Grontho' in Bengali means book) and used to be held in late December till early January. The ‘Grontho Mela’ displayed books published by Government-run publishing houses and was initially a rival commercial venture of the Kolkata Book Fair. However, the extraordinary growth of the 'Kolkata Book Fair' caused the Government of West Bengal to amalgamate the two book fairs in 1992.

The fair has most of its stalls filled with English and Bengali books, though books of other languages are also present. The popular book stalls in the Bengali section include the Ananda Publishers, Deb Sahitya Kutir and Mitra Ghosh Publishers, whereas the Timely Books, Seagull Books, Rupa and Co. and Penguin India comprise of the favourite English book shops.

The fair also hosts chief European publishers like the Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Kluwer and Springer Verlag.

The fair also has diplomatic mission stalls, which typically display and sell books of their country. The British Council, United States Information Service, and Alliance Française typically host stalls. Most major news media like The Telegraph and The Statesman install stalls inside the fair.

Moreover, the fair features stalls from major institutions in Kolkata like the Indian Museum, Asiatic Society, Zoological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, University of Calcutta and Jadavpur University.

Other notable annual stalls include:-

-The famous Santiniketan-based used bookseller, Subarnarekha

-A stall hosted by the famous Kolkata artist Rathin Mitra, featuring his work.

-The food stall of BenFish (Bengal Fisheries)

Each Book Fair emphasises on a particular country called the theme country. The theme country embassy is given a stall at the centre of the fair, and many book shops base their collections on the fair theme. The temporary gates of the fair are designed according to the theme, on the basis of a designing competition among the students of the city. Some recent themes include Spain (2006) and France (2005).

Typically, the Chief Guest at the fair is from the themed country. The fair has had many luminaries such as Gunter Grass and Richard Dawkins as its Chief Guest. From 2005, one of the newest participating international pavilions is named the 'guest of honour', and is a kind of secondary theme of the fair.

The fair has also witnessed two disasters. In 1997, there was a large fire where about one third of the book shops were burnt down. The following year witnessed torrential rain which caused great damage to the books.

The book fair also has other activities like the Asoke Kumar Sarkar Memorial Lecture, the annual lecture delivered since 1984 by noted publishers and educationists and the annual show for Bengali little magazines. Starting from 2000, the fair also has a special section for children.

Owing to protests from environmentalists and a subsequent High Court order, the book fair has shifted out of Maidan, and is being held at temporary venues. Environment lovers argued that, the enormous increase of dust suspended in air resulting from the huge gathering at the fair was not only destroying the city's environment, but was also affecting the texture of nearby Victoria Memorial.

Responding to a plea by the state government to give temporary permission to a couple of fairs, including the book fair, the court allowed it to be held at the Maidan in 2005 and 2006. 2007 saw a new venue of book fair at Salt Lake. In 2008, due to the failure of the State Government to offer a permanent venue, the fair again is changing its location—this year it will be held at Park Circus Maidan.