Marginal rise in footfall, absence of big names mark Book Fair

A marginal rise in footfall and absence of big names in publishing industry marked the 21st edition of the Delhi Book Fair which comes to an end today.
While the weekends, which included the festivals of Raksha Bandhan and Janmashthami, drew a substantial crowd to the nine-day event, the weekdays remained relatively deserted.
"We had a very good response, a full hundred per cent on Saturdays and Sundays. We have been keeping a cap of 1.5 lakh in a day to control the crowd.
"In the week days, there was a slightly less flow because of people's other engagements. In totality, I would like to confirm that in these nine days of the book fair there was a total footfall of 12 lakh to 15 lakh," says Jayanta Das, General Manager, Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) which co-organised the fair with the Federation of Indian Publishers (FIP).

While the increase in the footfall was only minimal as compared to last year, the fair this year saw a decrease in the number of participants.
"There has been a marginal improvement from last year. From the participation point of view, however, because there is a glut of such fairs globally, big publishing houses are not coming here preferring to go to other international events. So that way, there is a fall. Last year, there were 287 companies in the book fair. This year there were only 259," says Das.

The fair also had overseas participation from China besides a number of events for children and cultural functions.

According to Das, ITPO has already started gearing up for the next edition of the Delhi book fair to ensure a more encouraging response in 2016.
"For the next edition in 2016, through the market access initiative of the Department of Commerce, we are trying to get certain buyers who can ensure us a good business. We will now also be getting more funds from other concerned organizations and I am hoping that all the doyens of Indian publishers will be there in the next edition of the event," he said.
The 22nd edition of the Delhi Book Fair is scheduled to be held from August 27 to September 4.