China set to make Kolkata book fair comeback after 15 years
Times of India | 21 January 2026
Kolkata: China is returning to the International Kolkata Book Fair (IKBF) after a gap of 15 years.
Officials of Publishers and Booksellers Guild visited the Salt Lake Central Park book fairground on Tuesday. Last-minute preparations were on to set up stalls and deck up the fairground, as CM Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to inaugurate the 49th IKBF at 4 pm on Thursday. Tagore scholar and essayist from Argentina Gustavo Canzobre and Ambassador of Argentina HE Mariano Agustin Caucino will also grace the occasion.
Guild general secretary Tridib Chatterjee said China participated in the fair a couple of times prior to 2011, when they came for the last time.
There will be no USA pavilion for the first time since 2006, when they started participating, and Bangladesh will also be missing for the second year in a row. Ukraine, on the other hand, is making its first-time entry to the fair, and Australia is also returning after missing it last year.
With the fairground having direct metro connectivity from Howrah, the guild is expecting record-breaking footfall at the book fair this time. "Metro will run with increased frequency during the 12 days of the fair, with the last train available around 10 pm," said a guild official.
There will be a metro ticket booth inside the fairground between gates 1 and 2, from where visitors will be able to book tickets and directly take the metro from either Central Park or Karunamoyee station to avoid the rush at the ticket counters. There will also be a dedicated app cab stand at gate number 1. Last year, about 27 lakh visitors came to the book fair. Guild officials said novelist Swapnamoy Chakraborty will be conferred the Guild lifetime literary award by the CM at the inaugural ceremony.
KMDA has set up a new paver block lane inside the ground.