Efforts on to revive Bangalore Book Festival

Bengaluru book festival face funding challenges, new private initiatives emerge, efforts to revive BBF in 2025 underway.

The Bangalore Book Festival (BBF), once a marquee event in the city’s calendar, was last held in 2019. Then the pandemic happened. Despite multiple attempts since then, the festival has not made a return. Now, efforts are underway to bring BBF back in 2025.

In the five-year gap since BBF’s last edition, several new book festivals have emerged in Bengaluru, primarily organised by private entities. Among these is the latest addition, Pustaka Sante, hosted by Kannada publisher Veeraloka Prakashana. The three-day event, featuring 100 Kannada book stalls, will take place from November 15 to 17 at Shalini Grounds, Jayanagar.

“The event is entirely organised and funded by me, driven by my passion for promoting the Kannada language,” said Veerakaputra M. Srinivas, an industrialist and publisher. “Earlier this year, I held a similar exhibition at HSR Layout, which was well-received.”

A. N. Ramachandran, President of the Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers Association, which organised BBF for 14 editions until 2019, highlighted the hurdles in reviving the festival. “The main challenge is funding and support. While many industries have recovered post-pandemic, book sales remain sluggish. We have struggled to secure sponsorship or government funding,” he said.

He said book festivals in cities like Chennai and Delhi receive state government backing, which helps sustain them. “In the current economic climate, small booksellers and publishers cannot afford the high stall fees needed to make the festival self-sustaining,” he added. However, Ramachandran said efforts are on to revive BBF.

Meanwhile, a newly formed group, the Karnataka Booksellers and Publishers Association, is also planning a book festival for Bengaluru, with an emphasis on Kannada literature.

“One of the issues with BBF was its heavy focus on English books, which led to limited interest from the State government. Festivals like the Chennai Book Fair prioritise regional language books, which attract significant footfall,” said Guruprasad D.N., a member of the association and a publisher.