Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival to return to Gangtok from October 28

The second edition of the Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival (SALF) will bring writers, poets, artists and cultural practitioners to Gangtok for three days of discussions, performances and workshops centred on identity, memory, landscape and contemporary culture.

The festival will be held at Ridge Park from October 28 to 30, organisers announced at a press conference on Tuesday.

Presented by the Students' Welfare Board under the Education Department, Government of Sikkim, and produced by Teamwork Arts, SALF 2026 will feature several prominent names, including Chuden Kabimo, Mamang Dai, Nawaraj Parajuli, Ranjit Hoskote, William Dalrymple, Yuvan Aves, Guru T Ladakhi and Stephen Alter.

The festival is an initiative of Sikkim Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay) and seeks to provide young people with greater opportunities to engage with literature, art and cultural conversations.

"The Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival is an important part of our effort to create meaningful opportunities for the young people of Sikkim to engage with literature, art, culture and ideas," Sonam Chopel Sherpa, chairman of the Students' Welfare Board, said.

Sherpa said the second edition would bring writers and cultural practitioners to Gangtok while also creating space for Sikkim's own languages, traditions and contemporary experiences.

"We want our students and young audiences to see culture not simply as something to be preserved, but as something they can actively participate in, question, reinterpret and carry forward," he said.

The festival will focus on the literary and cultural traditions of Sikkim and its diverse communities, while also bringing stories and perspectives from across the Himalayan region into wider discussions on identity, belonging, memory and landscape.

The programme will include 'Echoes of Verse', featuring Mamang Dai and Ranjit Hoskote in conversation with Guru T. Ladakhi on poetry, memory, landscape and lived experience.

Poet Nawaraj Parajuli will feature in 'Kavita Concert: Beats of Poetry', a stage presentation exploring the rhythm and performance of poetry.

Another session, 'These Hills Called Home', will see Chuden Kabimo and Stephen Alter in conversation with Sharda Chhetri on identity, belonging, memory and the Himalayan landscape.

The festival will also feature workshops for adults and children, conducted by Gangtok-based creative organisations Tangible Tangerines and Mind Matters.

"This year, we have brought together an exciting mix of writers, poets, thinkers and cultural practitioners from Sikkim, the wider Himalayan region, India and beyond," said Syed Shams Jawaid, festival producer and senior vice-president of Teamwork Arts.

"Most importantly, SALF is a festival for everyone — open and free to all," he added, urging audiences, particularly young people, to attend the sessions and engage with different ideas and perspectives.