Srinagar: Bibliophiles are flocking the ongoing Chinar Book Festival that houses over 200 stalls of books and features a host of literary discussions.
The nine-day-long festival, currently underway at the picturesque Sher-i-Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) located on the banks of the Dal Lake, attracted as many as 5,000 people on its inaugural day on Saturday.
It is organised by the district administration here in collaboration with the National Book Trust (NBT), National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), and India Space Research Organisation (ISRO).
Spanning over 60,000 square feet, the festival offers books in Urdu, English, Kashmiri, Hindi, and other Indian languages.
“The Chinar Book Festival is a confluence of books, literature, and culture, bringing together the heaven of books and the heaven of the beautiful valley for the readers,” said Yuvraj Malik, director of NBT, in a statement.
The literary event witnessed young authors from the Kashmir Valley mentored under the PM YUVA programme being felicitated by the administration.
Nearly a dozen bilingual books for children — both in English-Kashmiri and English-Dogri formats — were also released on the occasion.
Besides offering a diverse collection of books across genres, the festival is also hosting a photo exhibition on the history, culture, and civilisation of the region as well as a literary discourse at ‘Chinar Talks’, a platform featuring sessions on topics including ‘Kashmir in Films & Literature’, poetry and more.
A ‘digital reading zone’ where readers can experience reading books on their electronic devices and have access to over 1,000 books from different publishers for free is also among the many attractions at the festival.
Additionally, the gala is also hosting workshops on creative writing, calligraphy, storytelling and emotional intelligence.
The festival will come to a close on August 25.
