The sales at the Amar Ekushey Book Fair have experienced a decline despite a significant number of visitors exploring the fair venue on Sunday, the first regular day of the week.

Publishers say the crowd was substantial, but the visitors to the fair didn’t purchase many books on the fourth day of the country’s largest book fair.

The visitors entered the book fair when its doors opened at 3pm, and by 6pm, the fair venue had a festive atmosphere with a large number of attendees.

Mustafiz, a sales representative of Rachana Prakash, said, “Today, there are many visitors but few buyers. Most of them have come to visit the fair. As a result, sales are very low compared to the weekends.”

Bangla Academy pavilion’s sales representative Ismail also shared similar observations. “Despite having visitors today, the sales are very low. Book sales were relatively good yesterday,” he said.

Nevertheless, in front of certain stalls, readers were observed seeking autographs from their favourite authors.

Sabrina Chowdhury, author of the book titled “Bondini,” was signing autographs in front of Ahmad Publishing House, said that despite her concerns about the success of her book, the positive response from readers has bolstered her confidence.

“Doctors, school and university students are buying the book. I never imagined that I would get such a response,” she added.

On the fourth day of the book fair, a discussion programme titled “Remembrance: Kangal Harinath Majumdar” was held at the main stage of the book fair at 4pm with Muntassir Mamoon in the chair.

Tapan Majumder presented a keynote paper while Zafar Wazed and Aminur Rahman Sultan were present as discussants.

Filmmaker and writer Tanveer Mokammel, writer Benimadhav Sarkar, researcher Kajal Rashid Shaheen and poet Farooq Ahmed discussed their new books at the Lekhok Bolchi stage.

Poets Anisul Haque, Farooq Mahmud and Jharna Rahman recited poems at the cultural event. Artist Jayanta Chattopadhyay, Dalia Ahmed and Naila Tarannum Chowdhury also recited poems.

Besides, there were performances by the cultural organisation ‘Basic Academy of Yogic Acoustic Traditional Instruments’ under the management of Anupam Biswas and ‘Nakshikantha’ directed by Md Sajedul Islam Fatemi. Singers Farida Parveen, Chandana Mazumder, Abdul Latif Shah, Arif Dewan and Sarkar Amirul Islam performed the music.

According to Bangla Academy, some 66 new books hit the stalls on the day.

Mentionable, today, on the fifth day of the fair, a discussion on ‘150th Birth Anniversary Tribute: Mohammad Roshan Ali Chowdhury’ will be held on the main stage of the book fair at 4pm.

Masud Rahman will present the keynote paper while Israel Khan and Tapan Bagchi will participate in the discussion to be presided over by Saiful Alam.