The Pune Book Festival 2024, which was held between December 14 and 22 at the Ferguson College Ground, was an event of immensity that captured the hearts of bibliophiles and cultural enthusiasts alike. Organized by the NBT, the festival displayed more than 600 stalls containing varied books in Indian languages and was a celebration of culture and literature.
Record-Breaking Achievements
This festival set a new record that no one had ever seen before-that of attracting more than 1 million visitors and selling around 2.5 million books in a single festival, thus crossing the figures of ₹40 crore, four times more than that of the previous year. The response almost elevated the festival to a national level, reflecting Pune’s long-established relations with books and reading.
It is not just a marketplace for books but a center of intellectual and cultural activities:
Pune Literature Festival (Lit Fest): For the first time this year, the Lit Fest was conducted between December 20 to 22 with more than 25 sessions by over 60 national and international authors, poets, journalists, and thinkers. The free sessions were held at the amphitheater of Fergusson College, covering a huge range of subjects that enriched the literary discourse.
Student Workshops: Daily workshops on storytelling, painting, dance, music, and Vedic mathematics were held for school children to inculcate creativity and learning in the young minds. All these activities were absolutely free, making it very participative.
Pune Children’s Film Festival: This was held from December 14 to 18. Free entry was provided to the screening of films, and the children were exposed to the world of cinema and storytelling.
Cultural Events: Over 25 theatre, musical, and dance events were held for this festival in a huge cultural ambience that was witnessed by over 200,000 audiences.
Guinness World Records
Another attraction included in the event was a Guinness World Record attempt of making a picture of Goddess Saraswati out of books. This 1,000-square-meter painting was created with the help of Neelkanth Publications and the National Book Trust and has indicated Pune’s closeness to books.
Community Engagement
The festival touched over 10 million people with the events held through social media while hundreds of thousands were present on-site. It hosted more than 100 book launches and received 1,000 authors as it was a huge platform for great literature.
The Pune Book Festival 2024 is a testament to the city’s vibrant literary culture and its role as a hub for intellectual pursuits. The event was not only promoting reading but also providing a platform for cultural exchange, learning, and community engagement. As we look forward to future editions, the festival’s success this year sets a high benchmark for literary and cultural events nationwide.
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