FAQs

This portal only includes ‘art and culture’ festivals. At Festivals From India, we define a cultural festival as “an organised series of arts and culture events or activities typically held annually in the same location, either physically or digitally. It is a period of celebration that focuses on either a single genre of art form or several, that is either curated and selected by a team or comprises a collection of arts initiatives, and brings together a range of people from different locations to form an audience. A cultural festival can vary in size from a gathering of hundreds to many thousands of individuals and is often supported by governments, organisations, brands, communities, collectives, and individuals.” The space and context of arts festivals in India is large, and given the team’s resources and expertise, we choose to focus on this niche. On this portal, we welcome festivals from the following genres: Arts and Crafts, Design, Dance, Film, Folk Arts, Food and Culinary Arts, Heritage, Literature, Interdisciplinary and/ or Multiarts, Music, New Media, Photography, Theatre and Visual Arts. This portal does not take into consideration religious or faith-based festivals.

Write to us at [email protected] with details of your festival and a phone number we can reach you at. The team will get in touch as soon as we can.

This is a two-step process.
Step 1: Submit basic details about your festival on our website via this link.
Step 2: Once submitted, you will receive a link in your inbox with a second form to submit detailed information about your festival that will be uploaded to the website. This form will require information about your festival, its location, photographs, videos, artist line-ups and any other information you want to share with festival goers.

Write to us at [email protected] with your festival name in the subject line. Our team will get in touch with you within 48 hours of receiving your message. Do note that for any new information to reflect on the website it can take up to 10 working days.

Go to ‘List My Festival’. Under the question ‘Is this a main festival or an edition/part of a larger festival?’, select ‘Sub-Festival’ to enter the upcoming edition of your festival. Our team members will get in touch with you within 48 hours of receiving your email. Do note that for any new information to reflect on the website it can take up to 10 working days.

On this portal, we have a dedicated section for all professionals who are currently working with festivals or want to work with festivals. The ‘For Organisers’ tab on the top right corner of your page has learning resources from the South Asia Festivals Academy, opportunities for you to network with your fellow festival professionals on Dara, peer sharing and networking events via Festival Connections, and resources, sector news, case studies and toolkits for you to read.

If you want to specifically find ways to connect with other festival organisers, visit the Network section under the ‘For Organisers’ tab, where you have a few different options to network with other festival organisers. One is via enrolling for Festival Connections on Dara – a community of festival founders, directors and arts leaders from various festivals in India. This community is a private, curated group where you can connect, collaborate and communicate with festival sector organisers, experts and professionals from across the world. Another is by attending our upcoming networking events under the Festival Connections section.

On this portal, we have a dedicated section for all professionals who are currently working with festivals or want to work with festivals. The ‘For Organisers’ tab on the top right corner of your page has our ‘Read’ section. Here we showcase the latest in the festivals sector through blogs, articles, research reports and resources such as case studies, toolkits, licenses and much more. This section is updated regularly with the latest information to help you chart your own growth in the cultural and creative sector in India.

This portal ensures that you have several opportunities to enable you to gain entry into the festivals sector. These include touch points such as volunteering, funding calls and jobs, among others, which are hosted on our ‘Careers’ section and posted regularly on our social media pages. On this portal, visit the Seek section under the ‘For Organisers’ tab and find jobs and opportunities listed by festival organisers and other recruiters.

Firstly, congratulations! It takes courage to start something and you have taken the first step in that direction by acknowledging what you want to do. Here’s how we can help: we have a dedicated section, ‘For Organisers’, for professionals like you who want to understand more about the festivals sector, look up resources and learn from peers and mentors. Check out the section under that called ‘Learn’, where our partners from the South Asia Festivals Academy have curated a specific set of learning resources for you. Academics and festival leaders from across India and the UK have designed the first module on ‘Starting a Festival’. That’s your first port of call.

We have a dedicated section, ‘For Organisers’, for professionals like you who want to understand more about the festivals sector, look up resources and learn from peers and mentors. Check out the section under that called ‘Learn’, where our partners from the South Asia Festivals Academy have curated a specific set of learning resources for you. These include modules on festival building and growth – starting a festival, business planning and governance, financial planning and management, artistic and curation strategies and audience development and communications. If you’d like to know more, check out the regular courses featured by Edinburgh Napier University who have initiated the South Asia Festivals Academy.

As a professional currently working with festivals or looking to in the future, you will be able to view the list of cultural festivals in the country, add or update information about those that you’re affiliated with, access learning resources, tap into opportunities to network with peers and experts, and join a community of like-minded professionals. Explore the ‘For Organisers’ section for this and more.

For a seamless festival attending experience, we have ensured that all the festivals listed on Festivals From India have schedules for their latest editions. Click on the festival you want to visit and the Schedule banner for the information.

We have categorised all arts and culture festivals on this portal under 14 genres as sub-categories: Arts and Crafts, Design, Dance, Film, Folk Arts, Food and Culinary Arts, Heritage, Literature, Interdisciplinary and/ or Multiarts, Music, New Media, Photography, Theatre and Visual Arts. You can explore festivals by Genre. Select Music to view all music festivals in this section.

We have carefully curated festivals according to states and major cities of India to help you navigate easily through the numerous festivals put together by us. There are two ways in which you can navigate this: type your city and / or state in any of our search boxes at the top of the website. Alternatively, you can explore by Places under the ‘Explore Festivals’ section. If you turn on the location on your browser or your device, you can also find festivals within 200 kms of your current location.

Under ‘Explore Festivals’ you can find the option to explore by Months. All upcoming festivals on this portal are categorised by date. You will see a list of festivals in chronological order.

You will be able to find the latest publicly available information on festivals, along with the ticket or registration booking links. A ticket booking link, if made available by the festival, can be found under each festival listing. Once you click on the link, you will be taken directly to the ticket booking or the registration page of the festival. So while, you can’t directly book the tickets to these festivals from our pages, you will certainly be able to find the correct link for booking tickets or registering for that festival on this website.

All festivals listed on this portal feature information sourced directly from the organisers, which has undergone a rigorous verification process. So the details you see are accurate to the degree that we have been able to receive from the organising team.

We know the excitement of visiting a place for the first time! Our ‘Items & Accessories to Carry’ under ‘Know Before you Go’ on every festival page has information on the weather during the festival, what to wear and take with you, and essentials for health and safety. These serve as a festival guide when you are preparing to visit a new location for a festival you want to be part of.

Write to us [email protected] with the festival name in the subject and basic details, and include a phone number that we can get in touch with you on. We will get back to you within 48 hours of receiving your message. Do note that for any new information to reflect on the website it can take up to 10 working days.

The contact details are listed under each festival page with an intention to provide direct access to the festivals and their organisers. Click on the festival of your choice and scroll down for the details.

You can register to receive updates from the homepage, or by clicking here. To receive all things festival straight to your inbox, scroll down on the homepage to the ‘Your ticket to wonder and excitement’ section.

This portal ensures that you have several opportunities to enable you to gain entry into the festivals sector. Please check our Seek page under ‘For Organisers’ for currently available opportunities. You will be able to reach out directly to the teams offering opportunities.

Send us an email at [email protected], and we’ll get back to you if there’s an opening. Follow our social media handles to stay up to date on opportunities that we are offering.