International Kolkata Book Fair (50th)

The International Kolkata Book Fair (formerly Calcutta Book Fair) is a winter fair in Kolkata. It is a unique book fair in the sense of not being a trade fair—the book fair is primarily for the general public rather than whole-sale distributors. It is the world's largest non-trade book fair, Asia's largest book fair (by publishers) and the most attended book fair in the world.

Language

Multilingual (Bengali+English)

Genres

general lit, thriller, horror, dark fantasy

Venue

Kolkata

Format

in-person

Founded

1976

Duration (days)

13

Next edition

22 Jan – 3 Feb 2027

Author participation

Massive public fair; India as theme country; Deadline: Stall applications opened 17 Sep 2026 (window may be closed—confirm with Guild)

Attendance published by the festival

2500000

Audience

It is a unique book fair in the sense of not being a trade fair—the book fair is primarily for the general public rather than whole-sale distributors.

Age policy

Sometimes parents will encourage their children to read books in English, rather than their native language.

Accessibility

Solar battery-operated vehicles were provided for the benefit of the aged and the disabled visitors to the fair.

Language notes

Listed working language: Multilingual (Bengali+English)

Genre notes

Primary focus: general lit; Also listed: thriller, horror, dark fantasy

Programme

"We did switch off power because the next programme could not be started.

Past guests

Vikram Seth, Ruskin Bond, Chetan Bhagat, Shashi Tharoor, Mohammed Hanif, Amit Chaudhuri, Basu Kuhn were present

Past editions

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2025

Travel

The Kolkata High Court's 2004 decision to move all public fairs to the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass has not been greeted with enthusiasm by fair organizers due to the present location being in the heart of Kolkata, and being very well serviced by public transport.

Festival site