Vijayawada: The prestigious 36th edition of the Vijayawada Book Festival will be organised at the Indira Gandhi Municipal Corporation (IGMC) Stadium in Vijayawada from January 2 to January 12, next year.
Addressing the media after unveiling the festival posters at the VBFS office here on Saturday, Vijayawada Book Festival Society (VBFS) president T Manohar Naidu and secretary K Lakshmaiah said the upcoming edition would be bigger than ever, with around 300 to 350 book stalls participating, marking an increase of over 30 per cent compared to last year. Leading publishers from across the country would take part, including 21 new publishers this year.
They said that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister K Pawan Kalyan and other ministers have been invited to inaugurate the festival. The main premises of the book festival have been named after VBFS founder member Vadlamudi Vimala Devi. The main dais would be named after eminent writer Dr B.V. Pattabhiram, while the children’s activities would be named after Jayant Narlekar.
As part of the festival, they said that a book lovers’ padayatra would be organised on January 5 from PB Siddhartha Arts and Science College to the IGMC Stadium.
Thousands of book lovers, writers, poets and literary personalities are expected to participate in the march, they said. Later, they said during the 10-day festival, the centenary birth anniversary celebrations of Mandali Venkata Krishna Rao would be held, along with a memorial meeting for permanent VBFS member Kolluri.
Several literary discussions and seminars focusing on Rayalaseema, north Andhra, coastal Andhra and Telangana literature, besides translation literature, children’s literature and contemporary literary issues, will be organised. They said Vijayawada Book Festival remains the only major book festival in the country to offer free entry to visitors.
Minister for human resources development Nara Lokesh has been invited to attend the closing ceremony on January 12, they added. VBFS vice-president J Prasad, joint secretary A B S Sai Ram, treasurer K Ravi and other members were present.
