World’s Largest International Theatre Festival is here & it is bigger than ever!

HB Team

If you love drama and theatre, and need an escape from cliché Bollywood films, or just want to go back in time and remember your school/college days when you did theatre, then you cannot miss this iconic theatre festival! We have sorted out your plans from 27th January to 20th February 2026. The Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 has returned!

25 Years of Theatre, One Global Platform, and Countless Stories to tell! The 25th Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 has begun with best wishes from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The festival was inaugurated by the Union Minister of Culture & Tourism, Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. Chittaranjan Tripathy, the Director of the National School of Drama, welcomed everyone with a heartwarming message at NSD, New Delhi. 

The remarkable thing about the Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 is that this time it’s going to be held in Largest Ever Format Across 40 Locations in India. Moreover, the festival is also organised in one country each in all of the seven continents. There are also going to be special performances paying tribute to Freedom Fighters, Social Reformers, and Theatre Stalwarts. A total of 277 Indian Productions, including 136 selected plays and 12 International Productions in 228 languages and dialects, making it a more massive festival than ever before! 

The selected plays were chosen after a strict screening process from 817 national and 34 international applications. The festival will also include 19 university productions and 14 local productions at different centres. This year, the festival will present performances in many languages such as Maithili, Bhojpuri, Tulu, Urdu, Sanskrit, Tai Khamti, and Nyishi, along with almost all major Indian languages and several tribal and endangered languages.

For the first time, the festival will be held at new centres including Ladakh, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Daman & Diu, Aizawl (Mizoram), Tura (Meghalaya), Nagaon (Assam), Mandi (Himachal Pradesh), and Rohtak (Haryana).

Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 will host many curated and related theatre festivals such as Adirang Mahotsav (tribal theatre, dance and crafts), Jashne Bachpan (children’s theatre), Bal Sangam (folk dance and drama by children), Poorvottar Natya Samaroh (theatre from the North-East), Puppet Theatre Festival, Dance Drama Festival, Classical Sanskrit Drama Festival and a Micro Drama Festival.

For the first time, the festival will also feature productions by transgender communities, sex workers, senior citizens, and other underrepresented groups.

Folk art performances, street theatre, seminars, master classes, and workshops will be an important part of the festival. The Advitiya segment, led by the NSD Students’ Union, will organise interactive sessions and street plays at the NSD campus.

The festival will also host the Theatre Bazaar to promote newly written plays, where selected works will be awarded and published. Under the ‘Shruti’ initiative, 17 books will be launched. A total of 33 productions directed by women will be presented. Special performances honouring freedom fighters, social reformers, and famous theatre personalities will also take place.

Special stalls showcasing India’s traditional food and handicrafts will add to the overall cultural experience of the festival.

Bharat Rang Mahotsav 2026 is supported by several national and international cultural and academic institutions. These include the Maithili–Bhojpuri Academy, Hindi Academy, Garhwali–Kumaoni–Jaunsari Academy, and Urdu Academy of the Government of NCT of Delhi. International partners include the National Polish Theatre Academy (Warsaw), the National Academy of Theatre and Film Arts (Madrid), and the Russian Institute of Theatre Arts – GITIS (Moscow), along with support from various Indian states and cultural bodies.