Did the Dhaka event pull in more than Cairo 2024, which this year clocked a record 4.6 million visitors?
Thirty-one days this year – the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela not only picked up a leap year extra day, but then added two more days in March. But still early signs are that visitor numbers were not up to expectations (6 million last year) and there was much consternation about visitors spending more time taking “selfies” than buying books.
Best reports in English so far (I flunked Bangla at school) suggest the USD equivalent of $4.3 million in sales, and while there were reports of one day attracting 700,000 and others “only” 300,000, there’s been no clear statement on footfall. Had last year’s numbers been exceeded, that would surely have been headline news.
Which leaves the question, did the Dhaka event pull in more than Cairo 2024, which this year clocked a record 4.6 million visitors?
While other book fairs can regularly pull in 2 million or more, or even 3 million in the case of Madrid, the only possible rival to Cairo is the Ekushey Boi Mela.
Updates on this as final Ekushey numbers become available.
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