People were seen waiting in long queues from Shaheed Mianr, Doel Chattar, TSC, and Shahbagh to Bangla Academy entrance to enter the main fair venue.

On the day of Ekushey February, the book fair was opened at 8am and continued till 9pm so that people who came to the Central Shaheed Minar for paying homage to the Language Movement martyrs could visit the fair.

After paying homage to the martyrs, people flocked the book fair with friends and families. The crowd got bigger as time passed.

People of all ages, especially students and parents with their children, were found browsing through books at different stalls.

Engineer Shakil Mahmud from Rayerbag Jatrabari, who came with his friends, said they went to Shaheed Minar in the morning and paid tributes to the martyrs by placing wreaths there before coming to the book fair.

“It’s important to convey the history to the new generation. Quality books should be produced so that the young can learn about history," he said.

As the Shishu Prohor (children's hour) was also celebrated on the same day, the fairground was abuzz with children. The fair has dedicated two hours - 11am to 1pm - especially for children.

Children were playing, buying books and taking pictures with the characters of Sisimpur at Shishu Chhattar, a platform dedicated to children in the fair for learning and playing at the same time.

Sharif Imtiaz, from Mirpur, who brought his 9-year-old son, said Amar Ekushey has a special significance for the country and its people and the new generation needs to be introduced to the history.

Imtiaz said that he brought his son to the fair to see books and learn more about the Language Movement and know the history. “We also visited the central Shaheed Minar and paid tributes to the language heroes,” he said.

The stall attendants were seen busy dealing with visitors and big smiles flashed on the faces of the publishers as the crowd got only bigger.

Hridoy Hossain, a salesman of Charulipi, said they recorded their highest sales of the fair on Friday. “People are more interested about book and novels on Liberation War,” he said.

This year, 873 units were allocated to the 560 organisations. The authorities have allotted 179 units at the Bangla Academy ground to 126 organisations and 694 at the Suhrawardy Udyan to 694 organisations.

The fair remains open from 3pm to 9pm on weekdays and from 11am to 9 pm on weekends.