Poradaha Mela: The largest fish fair in Bangladesh

When we talk about fair, the name that comes to our mind first is either Dhaka International Trade Fair or Amar Ekushey Book Fair or both of these. However, apart from these, there are many fairs that take place throughout the country. One such type of fair is ‘Poradaha Mela’ (পোড়াদহ মেলা), one of the oldest fairs in Bangladesh. This fair is also known as fish fair. There is a debate about the age of this traditional fair. According to some historians, it is a 400 years old fair while others say that it has been taking place for about the last 150 years.

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Poradaha Mela is held every year on the last Wednesday of the Bengali month Magh. But this Wednesday should have to be within the last three days of Magh. If it is not then the fair will be arranged on the first Wednesday of Falgun, the next month of Magh. This one-day long fair takes place every year at Poradaha in Gabtali Upazila of Bogra district. Hundreds of fishermen from the nearby districts take part in this fair.

The main attraction of this fair is various types of fish from the seas and rivers. Imported fish are also available here, but local fish, such as ‘Baghair’, ‘Boal’, ‘Rui’, ‘Catla’, ‘Mrigel,’ etcetera dominate the fair. Thousands of people from different parts of the country visit the fair at Poradaha. People buy fish according to their budget. If you have enough money, you can buy fish weighing more than 80 kilograms, which may cost you Tk 1200 or more for each kilogram.

Apart from fish, visitors will also find many other things like sweets, bamboo or cane-made products, handicrafts, valuable wooden items, puppet shows, circus and many other entertaining items.