Delhi Shabdotsav 2026 to begin on January 2
The national Capital will host a three-day cultural and literary festival, ‘Delhi Shabdotsav 2026,’ starting January 2, with the participation of more than 100 eminent speakers from all over the country, Minister of Art, Culture and Language Kapil Mishra announced on Monday.
Addressing a press conference, Mishra said several well-known personalities, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, RSS leaders Sunil Ambrekar and Manmohan Vaidya, and Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts member Secretary Sachchidanand Joshi is among the over 100 speakers expected to participate in the event. Vice President CP Radhakrishan will be the chief guest at the inaugural ceremony on January 2 and will also be graced by the presence of Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, Mishra said.
The Art, Culture and Language Minister further informed that Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami and Chhattisgarh Home Minister Vijay Sharma will also be part of this event.
Mishra said it is the first time the Delhi Government is organising such a comprehensive and inclusive event by bringing literature, culture, and ideas together on a common platform. Giving details, he said the festival will be held at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium from 10.00 am to 10.00 pm. Entry to the festival is free, he added.
Mishra stated that Delhi Shabdotsav 2026 is not merely an event but a celebration of India’s cultural, literary, and intellectual consciousness. He informed that more than 100 eminent speakers from across the country will participate in this three-day festival.
Over the course of three days at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium, more than 40 book releases, 6 grand cultural performances, and two major poetry symposiums (Kavi Sammelans) will be organised.
Additionally, students from more than 40 universities across Delhi and NCR will actively participate in the festival, he said.
The festival will witness the presence of leading thinkers, writers, and speakers of the country, including National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, Sunil Ambekar, Manmohan Vaidya, former Air Chief Marshal Rakesh Bhadauria, Mukul Kanetkar, Chandraprakash Dwivedi, MP Sudhanshu Trivedi, Madhavi Lata, Vikramjit Banerjee, Vishnu Shankar Jain, and Abhilasha Panda, among many other distinguished personalities.
Cultural performances by Hardeep Kaur, Hansraj Raghuwanshi, and Prahlad Singh Tipaniya will be held in the evenings on all three days. Performances and programs such as Bharatanatyam, Kathak, Bhajan Sandhya, poetry sessions, and Somnath Jyotirlinga Darshan will also be part of the festival.
To strengthen the outreach and student participation of the festival, a “DU Ambassador Program” has been launched in various colleges of Delhi University. Under this initiative, selected students will work as ambassadors, disseminating information about Delhi Shabdotsav within their campuses and encouraging fellow students to participate in the event.
Entry to the festival will be completely free. For the convenience of the general public, a pre-registration facility has been provided, which can be accessed through the official Delhi Shabdotsav website. Information about the festival is being widely disseminated to the public through social media platforms, the DU Ambassador Program, and public outreach campaigns.
The Delhi Government plans to develop Delhi Shabdotsav as a permanent cultural identity and organize it annually on an even larger scale, so that in the future it may emerge as a strong platform presenting India’s cultural heritage at national and international levels.
