The Amar Ekushey Book Fair began humbly: in 1972, a publisher named Chittaranjan Saha laid 32 books on a mat outside Bangla Academy to mark Shaheed Day, the anniversary of the 1952 Language Movement killings. He ran it alone for four years before other publishers joined, Bangla Academy formally took over organization in 1978, and the fair has grown into what’s now recognized as Bangladesh’s largest book fair by a wide margin, drawing millions of visitors and generating hundreds of millions of taka in book sales during recent years.

The connection to 1952 remains the fair’s organizing purpose, not just its origin story. Held throughout February, the month associated with the Language Movement, and culminating around February 21, International Mother Language Day, the fair functions as much as a national cultural commemoration as a commercial book market. Hundreds of publishers set up stalls across the Bangla Academy courtyard and the adjoining Suhrawardy Udyan grounds, and daily seminars, poetry readings, and cultural programs run alongside the book stalls throughout the month.

For visitors, the fair offers a genuine cross-section of Bengali intellectual and literary culture in one place, new fiction, poetry, children’s books, and academic works, alongside the simple pleasure of an evening crowd browsing books together in a way that’s become a beloved Dhaka tradition. Evening hours tend to draw the biggest crowds and liveliest atmosphere; if you prefer to browse without the density, earlier in the day (where hours permit) is calmer.

One important caveat: the fair’s exact start date, end date, and daily hours have shifted from year to year, due to elections, public health circumstances, or scheduling around Ramadan, so treat February as the reliable window but verify the current year’s specific dates and hours before planning a visit.