Chinar Book Festival to commence on August 17 at SKICC

Srinagar, Aug 13: The Chinar Book Festival is set to take place at SKICC here from August 17 to 25 through the collaborative efforts of the National Book Trust, India (Ministry of Education, Govt of India) and the District Administration Srinagar.

An official statement said the first national book festival in the valley will also see participation from National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL).

The nine-day Book Fair to be held in front of the picturesque Dal Lake, will feature more than 200 stalls providing access to books in various languages including English, Urdu, Kashmiri, Hindi, Dogri, and other Indian languages.

The event will offer special discounts and an opportunity for readers to engage with books from over a thousand publishers nationwide.

Speaking about the event, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar Dr. Bilal Mohi-Ud-Din Bhat stated that  "Chinar Book Festival will be the first National Book Festival and the biggest book fair of Kashmir Valley”.

DC Srinagar emphasised that there has not been any festival of such a large scale in Srinagar for a long time. “Hence this is a great opportunity for the people of Srinagar, where amidst the books, readers will be able to participate in various programs related to literature, art and culture,” he said.

During the Book Fair programs will be organised in three parts. Creative writing workshops like Calligraphy, Story Telling, Caricature, Dyeing Competition, Art Workshop, Slogan Writing Competition, Puppet Craft, Vedic Mathematics and many other creative writing workshops will be organised for children from 10 am to 1 pm.

There will be career oriented workshops for the youth from 2 pm to 4 pm. They will get an opportunity to talk to big litterateurs on art, literature and culture. So far, more than 50 thousand children have registered for this mega event.''

Dr. Bilal urged the people of Srinagar to come to the Chinar Book Festival and make the festival a success. He also informed that five free buses will run from Ghantaghar to SKICC to reach the book festival.

Speaking on the Chinar Book Festival, Yuvraj Malik, Director, National Book Trust, India, said, “This book festival is organised by the people of the Valley and for the people of the Valley, where readers will find more than 200 book stalls,” he said.