An estimated six lakh people have visited the 45th International Kolkata Book Fair since February 28, a senior official of the Publishers and Book Sellers Guild said.
On average more than one lakh visitors have turned up at the book fair at Central Park ground in Salt Lake on all five days with over 1.75 lakh turning up on March 2, the day of Maha Shivratri, Guild president Sudangshu Sekhar Dey told PTI on Friday.
He said while 24 lakh visitors had come to the book fair in 2020, this year the turnout was expected to cross 20 lakh figure.
"The pandemic deprived book lovers of attending the biggest book carnival of the world last year. This is obvious from their response this year," he said.
The book fair which was inaugurated on February 28 will continue till March 13.
Guild secretary Tridib Chatterjee said the organisers are asking people to put on masks though some people may not be listening to the appeal. "The guild is doing everything to sensitise the people about the existing threat of the pandemic," he said.
Veteran writer Sirshendu Mukherjee said, "I am so happy to find the same ambience in the book fair ground and meeting lots of my young fans. I don't feel stressed in their presence. This was unthinkable even some months back when the third wave struck."
The book fair was not held in 2021 due to the covid pandemic.