Amidst the election fever and winters, Delhiites are in for a treat with 18th edition of ' Kathakar International Storytellers Festival ', a 3-day event featuring Kissey, Kahani, Conversations and Music from 31st January to 2nd February 2025 at Sunder Nursery Heritage Park, Nizamuddin, Delhi.
The festival is organized by Nivesh, HHACH and Babaji Music in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture, Govt. of India and Delhi Tourism, Govt. of Delhi. Union Minister of Culture, Govt. of India, Shri. Gajendra Singh Shekhawat will inaugurate the festival on 31st January. The festival is created, curated and organised by the Gahilote sisters – Rachna, Prarthana and Shaguna.

The 3-day festival will see performances by Indian and International storytellers; Usifu Jalloh (Sierra Leone), Polina Tserkassova (Estonia), Na'ama Tel Tsur (Israel), Michal Malinowski (Poland), Bharat Lal and Shaguna Gahilote (India). And conversation sessions with the ace musicians, Lucky Ali, Mohit Chauhan, filmmakers Imtiaz Ali and Sajid Ali, Apar Shakti Khurana and musical extravaganza by Kutle Khan, Taba Chake, Bhupinder Babbal, and Niazi Brothers. It also features Sajid Ali Retrospective with film screening to Laila Majnu and Chamkila.
The festival will also see the unveiling of new song by Mohit Chauhan.

About Kathakar

Kathakar is India’s first and Asia’s biggest oral storytelling festival. It has revived the traditional art of oral storytelling in a world where people are glued to gadgets and digital media. In the three-day festival storytellers from five countries will share their captivating stories with the people of Delhi. The charm of sitting out in the open on a cold winter night brings back the age-old tradition where people gathered to hear tales from the travellers who shared stories from far away land.

Mohit Chauhan, who is the chief patron of the festival and also the Cultural Ambassador of Mongolia in India, said, "It's always a great feeling to be in Delhi and Kathakar is close to my heart as it brings the good old traditional storytelling forms to masses and provides the opportunity to learn about different culture, rich value and traditions. During the festival, we will not just tell stories but also talk about the importance of storytelling in everyday life, cinema and music, these sessions would be with likes of Imtiaz Ali, Lucky Ali, Anurag Basu. While I'll be discussing the musical journey of 25 years, as well as unveiling the latest song here at Kathakar."

Prarthana Gahilote, the Festival Director says, “As we celebrate 15 glorious years of Kathakar we take a tour of the festival to four cities; Delhi, Jodhpur, Jaipur and Himachal Pradesh. After 14 years and 17 editions, the festival has become synonyms with the celebration of Indian and international storytelling in India and rest of the world. Every city will get to meet artists from different countries, hear different stories, listen to varied musical acts and meet celebrities who are known names in their field of art."