Weekend crowd thronged the Ekushey Book Fair as the annual event drew 153 new titles to lead the list of day's arrival on the fifth day of the month-long event yesterday (Friday). Sales of books were highest at the first weekend of the Fair after its opening, publishers of different publishing houses said.

The Fair drew huge crowd seen buying books at different stalls since the morning as the fair opened at 11:00AM for weekly holiday.

The queues tailed back from the Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Doyel Square to Bangla Academy gates at 3:00PM. The security personnel were in relaxed mood and visitors were not frisked in the evening. The visitors did not find any space in the Fair venue. At 5 PM, the queue touched the central mosque gate of Dhaka University and Mokarram Bhaban.

Sales persons at almost all the stalls were found busy selling and displaying books from the morning.

The Fair venue turned into human sea after the evening. There were hardly any room for the visitors to move around the fair ground.

Many stalls set up outside the Bangla Academy premises continued to flout fair rules. They were selling books that are not published by their own publishing houses and the books published abroad. A large number of visitors were found carrying packets of new books they bought from different stalls of the fair. Many moved around the fair venue after buying books.

At the Bangla Academy sales centre, demand of dictionary was high.

Of the 153 new titles on the day, 42 are novels, 18 collections of stories, 32 collections of poems and five collections of essays.

The Bangla Academy, as part of its regular programmes, held a discussion on 'The Language Movement.'