VIJAYAWADA: Close to five lakh people thronged the Government Polytechnic College ground during the 11-day Vijayawada Book Festival. The exhibition, organised by Vijayawada Book Festival Society (VBFS), concluded on Sunday.
The 33rd edition of the festival exhibited over one lakh books in 216 stalls. The valedictory meeting held at Gollapudi Maruthi Rao stage saw Commissioner of Technical Education C Naga Rani, NTR district collector S Dilli Rao, CPI State secretary Rama Krishna and others in attendance.
The gathering was presided by VBFS Honorary President Bellapu Babji. Speaking on the occasion, Nagarani congratulated all the members of the society and said, “Parents should ensure that children develop an interest towards reading books from a young age.”
Further, she assured the public that next year the book festival will be conducted in PWD Grounds.
According to reports, the daily footfall had been hit due to the change in location from the PWD grounds to the polytechnic college ground.
CPI State Secretary K Rama Krishna appreciated the organisers of the festival and said, “It is surprising to learn that book lovers purchased thousands of books in Telugu language. The book fair has recorded a business of Rs 3.5 crore to Rs 4 crore in 11 days.”
During the event, stalls for puzzles, GK, science fiction, handwriting and comic books also attracted a number of students. Teachers from different schools taught interesting stories to the children, including the ‘Payasam for a bear’ written by the famous writer Sudha Murthy, who is also chairperson of the Infosys Foundation.