This year's Hyderabad book fair is starting tomorrow and will be on till 29th December. I've visited the last couple of times and this is one of those events that avid readers should not miss. Even if you are not into books, just visit this fair. It will be different from our regular movie/restaurant/wedding/temple outings. They have some eatery stalls and some events keep happening on the stage.

Location: NTR Stadium near Tank Bund. https://maps.app.goo.gl/f2V3jgVkCzUE9Zkt7

Timings: 12 PM to 9 or 10 PM

For updates you can check their facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/hyderabadbookfairorg

Official website: https://www.hyderabadbookfair.com/

What you can expect here:

This is a massive book fair with over 330 stalls. The number of stalls keeps increasing every year. If you are like me and want to visit every stall and see what they are offering, it will take you at least 5 to 6 hours. 6000 out of your daily 10000 steps guaranteed.

For those looking for Telugu books this is where all the important publishers are present.

Most of the book stalls from Koti will also be there. For second hand books think of this place as 10 times the size of one of those lock the box book fairs. So, you have a vast number of books to choose from and many options to bargain and get the best price.

You also get manga here, but remember these are not originals. The ones you get here are pirated copies printed on cheap paper. I haven't seen any shops selling original manga or comics and graphic novels in this book fair.

Be a smart buyer:

It is better to visit from Friday (20th Dec) onwards because on the first day not all stalls are open and even the ones that open are busy arranging the stalls. Unless you want to see Revanth Reddy. Apparently he is inaugurating the book fair tomorrow. I'm not sure at what time though.

If you want to buy boxed sets like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter etc., buy them from reputed stalls. Like I said earlier the Koti stall owners are also here who have sealed boxed sets that you get for cheap but they are pirated copies. You won't realize that they are of cheap quality until you open the seal. Not at all worth buying them.

Don't buy a book from the first stall you see it in. Get the price from different stalls and finally bargain. The bigger and reputed stalls usually have a standard 10% discount on the listed price. If you buy a few books you can ask for further discount. I'm not really good with bargaining, but if you are, you will get books for a very good price here.

More points to consider (by u/supplepanipuri)

• It can get a little crowded when you go in the later dates, so be prepared for that.
• Not much place to sit the last time I went. Take note if you're bringing children or elders along.
• Carry big bags, even if you're not planning to buy a lot. Books are a pain to carry around even if they're not heavy. The stalls give cheap bags that are uncomfortable & sometimes painful to hold. I remember a few people got strolly bags/ trolley suitcases and I thought that was really good solution.
• You can definitely get cheap rates if you try. Remember - a lot of the stalls here are from publishers and dealers who want to boost their sales numbers & gain standing in the industry, so they'll be willing to sell at a cheaper rate if you show them you're a serious customer.

Stall list:

Here is a printable list of all the stalls in the fair that I prepared: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1SWdD5-l16FfTewRulsmvDvCn5OKmAnJx/view?usp=sharing

You can download the original document from the official website https://www.hyderabadbookfair.com/, but that is 10 pages long.

Some stats for regular visitors:

I've compiled some stats for us regular visitors to get an overview of this year's fair. These numbers are based on the stall list released by the fair. So this is might not be accurate.

Stalls overview

In the previous fair there were 322 stalls, so a slight increment. In the press conference the organizers mentioned that there might be some extra unlisted stalls for small authors and publishers.

Participants from different regions

Pretty much most of the stalls are taken up by nearby book sellers. This fair needs to get more participants from more states and even other countries.

Final Thoughts:

It's sad to see that this fair is not getting much coverage in our press. Even in our subreddit not many people are talking about this. I know not a lot of people are reading books nowadays. Just check this report on a survey recently conducted in UK https://literacytrust.org.uk/documents/6730/Children_and_young_peoples_reading_in_2024_Report.pdf the results are alarming and I believe a similar survey will show even more drastic numbers for India or Hyderabad. I'm not one of those who say reading books is a must, but the habit indeed has its advantages. We need to encourage youngsters to read books and not let this beautiful hobby die. Please visit the fair and inform your friends also about it. Thanks

Edit: Added their facebook link so that you can check updates.

Edit2: added more points visitors should be aware of.