Kathakar Storytellers Festival returns with 3 Days Packed line-up of artists & celebrities like Mohit Chauhan, Imtiaz Ali, A R Rahman and Mukesh Chhabra

Young readers get ready as we’ve some incredible, award-winning authors coming to the festival.

Launch by A R Rahman on 1st December 2023, 8pm Onwards

16th edition of Kathakar: International Storytellers Festival’ will be held at Sunder Nursery, Opposite Humayun’s Tomb, Nizamuddin, National Zoological Park, Sundar Nagar, New Delhi from 1st December 2023, till 3rd December 2023. Kathakar is the only oral storytelling festival in India and the largest in Asia, part of Ghummakkad Narain- the Travelling Literature Festival which was started under the aegis of UNESCO in 2010. Kathakar was started to preserve the ancient art form of storytelling and to create new audiences for the same. Today after 13 years the festival has established storytelling as a well known art form and made it a viable profession, helping revive several of the oral storytelling art froms. The festival hosts evening sessions for open audience ranging from children to the elderly. Morning sessions are hosted for school students from both private and state schools. Panel discussions and workshops are also organised for aspiring and professional storytellers. This year the festival will host storytellers from Australia, Japan, Turkey, Poland, Columbia, United Kingdom and India.

 ·      The event will be concluded by the hit duo Imtiaz Ali and Mohit Chauhan sharing their fascinating stories. It will also have a master class with ace casting director Mukesh Chabbra of Dil Bechara fame

Morning Attractions:

On Dec 2nd Morning- Free Acting Workshop by ace casting director Mukesh Chabbra

On Dec 3rd Morning- Imtiaz Ali Retrospective: Film Screening of Rockstar and Highway inaugurated by film director Imtiaz Ali

The festival has been addressed by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, Kiren Rijiju, Giriraj Singh, Meenakshi Lekhi, Vishal Bharadwaj, Mohit Chauhan, Manoj Tiwari, Nandita Das, Sushma Seth, Deepti Naval, Imtiaz Ali, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Manoj Bajpayee, Shantanu Moitra, Dr Shashi Tharoor, Godfrey Duncan, Giles Abbott, Daniel Hall, Vergine Gulbenkian, Emily Hennessey, Xanthe Gresham, Dominic Kelly, Kamishi-bai, Uncle Larry, Emily Gravett, Sarah Rundle, Katy Cawkwell, Michal Malinowski, Jerzy Szufa, Emilia Raiter, Tim Ralphs, Muriel Bloc and many more. The festival each year gets a diverse set of storytellers from India including, Pandvani, Dastan-goi, Qissebazi, Powada, Allah-Udal, Kesar-saga and from countries such as Poland, UK, Sweden, Caribbean Islands, USA, Hungary, Australia, Japan, Mongolia, France, etc.

The festival has till date reached out to over 1,50,000 adults, children, teachers and parents.

The patron of the festival is well-known singer Mohit Chauhan who is also the Cultural Envoy of Mongolia to India. The festival-founder directors and curators are author and storytellers the Gahilote sisters, Rachna, Prarthana and Shaguna. The festival was started in the memory of Thakur Vishwa Narain Singh, the first Braille Editor of India. He brought light into the lives of 10 million blind of the country and was called ‘Father of Braille in India’ by Shri Atal Behari Bajpayee as he bestowed him with Soviet Land Nehru Award.

Kathakar schedule

1st to 3rd December 2023

Schedule

Friday, 1st December 2023

4:00 pm – Vikram Betal by D. Atarbayan (Mongolia) and Godfrey Duncan TUUP (UK)

5:00 pm – Aborigine stories: Whale Story by Jodi Edwards (Australia) 

6:00 pm – The Woman Made of Flowers & Other Tales: British Legend by Katy Cawkwell (UK)

7:00 pm – Ghazal Gayaki by Nisshchal Zaveri (India)

8:00 pm – Japanese Shadow Show by Spice Arthur 702 (Japan)

8:45 pm – Juke box of tales from around the world with Jodi, Katy, TUUP, moderated by Shaguna Gahilote

9:00 pm – Inauguration by A R Rahman

9:15 pm – Kissey Kahani: Mohit Chauhan In Conversation with A R Rahman moderated by Prarthana Gahilote

Saturday, 2nd December 2023

10 am to 12 pm – Acting Workshop with Mukesh Chhabra (India)

4:00 pm – Kamishi-bai: Japanese paper theatre by Spice Arthur 702 (Japan)

4:45 pm – Musical folktales by D. Atarbayan (Mongolia)

5:15 pm – River creation – Aborigine stories by Jodi Edwards (Australia)

6:00 pm – African folktales by Godfrey Duncan TUUP (UK)

6:45 pm – Phoneix: Russian and Middle Eastern mythology by Katy Cawkwell (UK)

7:30 pm – The Art of Storytelling: Storytellers in Conversation with Rachna Bisht

8:00 pm – Kissey, Kahani aur Adakaari: Mohit Chauhan in conversation with Mukesh Chabbra moderated by Prarthana Gahilote (India)

9:00 pm – Qawwali by Warsi Brothers (India)

Sunday, 3rd December 2023

10 am to 1 pm – Art of Storytelling Workshop with International storytellers

10 am to 3 pm – Imtiaz Ali Retrospective: Film Screening of Rockstar and Highway inaugurated by film director Imtiaz Ali

4:00 pm – Jukebox of tales from around the world by Jodi, Katy, TUUP, Agnieszka, Marta, and more, led by Shaguna Gahilote

6:00 pm - Meddah traditional Turkish Storytelling by Agnieszka Aysen Kaim and Marta Maslanka (Poland/Turkey)

7:00 pm – Ramayana: traditional shadow puppetry by Kande Ramadas (India)

8:00 pm – Rochak Kohli performance

9:00 pm – Kissey, Kahani aur Cinema - Imtiaz Ali Retrospective: Prarthana Gahilote in conversation with Imtiaz Ali (India)

Sunder Nursery Entry Charges is Rs. 50 additional which is the party entry fees for all. Please carry a valid ID proof along with you.