Ten-day Bangalore Book Festival kickstarts today

The countdown to one of the most-awaited events in the city, the Bangalore Book Festival, now ends. Starting from November 6 till November 15, bookworms in the city can enjoy a sumptuous feast of reading.

For the seventh year in a row, the Bangalore Book Festival will be held at the Palace Grounds (Gayathri Vihar Entrance) and is being jointly organised by the Bangalore Book Sellers and Publishers Association and M/s Klub Class.

Spread over approximately 340 stalls of different publishers in the city, Bangalore Book Festival 2009 intends to encourage more Kannada readers, with 94 stalls are dedicated to Kannada books.

This year, the book festival also has GiveG foundation as its social partner. They intention is to request the visitors to gift old or new, used or unused books and help in setting up mini libraries for the needy institutions. Those who donate books can even have a chance to dine with a celebrity on December 1.

“Bangalore should become a destination for book lovers. In fact, Bangalore’s right there on top, with class A cities like Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi for its book fest,” BS Raghuram, programme director, Bangalore Book Festival told the media.

Dr Siddalingaiah, president of Kannada Pustaka Pradikara, is expected to inaugurate the event on November 6. The fest will be open to visitors from 11 am-8 pm on weekdays and will remain open till 8.30 pm on weekends.