Patna: The Patna Book Fair is set to open at Gandhi Maidan on December 5, with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar expected to inaugurate the 12-day event. Deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary will also attend the opening ceremony, organisers said. Preparations are in their final stages and the fair will run until December 16.
Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, coordinator Amit Jha said this year’s fair would be dedicated to the storyteller Awadhesh Preet, and more than 200 stalls from over 100 publishing houses would be present. Entry will be through Gate 10 at Ramgulam Chowk, and schoolchildren in uniform will be admitted free.
Daily cultural activities are planned, including a “School Utsav” programme coordinated by Dr Moni Tripathi, featuring performances by students from leading schools in Patna. Authors and literary figures such as Anant Vijay and Jai Prakash Pandey are among the invited guests.
A “Dialogue with the Editor” forum will allow visitors to meet prominent journalists including Ashwini Kumar, Vinod Bandhu, Giridhar Jha, Savita Pareek, and Ajay Kumar.
Ratneshwar, the chair of the organising committee, said this year’s venues would be named after revered scholars, with the main entrances titled Agastya, Vishwamitra and Charak. Event spaces will include Vyas Manch, Kashyap Manch, Madhav Art Gallery, and the Sushruta-named theatre section “Aao Aao Natak Dekho”.
The theme of the 2025 fair will be “Health Dialogue”, focusing on wellness, with participation from leading medical specialists nationwide, coordinated by Dr Vikas Shankar. More than 300 new programmes are expected.
A national Mushaira, organised jointly with the Patna Literary Festival, will feature poets including Sajjad Jhanjhat, Prerna Pratap, Salman Saeed, Ramesh Vishwahar, Balmohan Pandey and Sanskriti Shree. A grand poetry conference and street theatre performances by college students are also planned. Theatre artists such as Ravi Mishra, Suresh Kumar Hajju, Punj Prakash and Manish Mahiwal will be honoured.
