KathaaLok : The Great Indian Storytelling Festival

Your Story, Our Stage and a chance to win hearts and prizes.

A grand storytelling festival is going to take place in Delhi, 10th and 11th February, at Palika Park, Connaught Place. If you have a unique style of telling a story of have an amazing tale to tell,

participate as a storyteller and win grand cash prizes. Your story has to fit in one of the following four formats. The first format is solo storytelling, here one person claims the whole of the stage and the attention from 4 to 8 minutes. The second format is group storytelling where a group of 2 to 8 members can perform a story together from 8 to 15 mins. You can also perform musical or visual storytelling in the same duration, solo or in group.

Some of the chosen story genres are Akraman- stories of war, Preet- love stories, Hasya- Comedy, Rehasya- Mystery, Devlok- ancient Indian stories, Aitihasik- dramatized Indian historical stories and stories from the villages of India. One can also bring their own genre and story, though the context has to be Indian.

The participant can also pick stories of the legendary writers of India from Acharya Chatursen to Amrita Pritam, you are free to pick any of the gems of Indian literature, of any language.

The participant can also pick stories of the legendary writers of India from Acharya Chatursen to Amrita Pritam, you are free to pick any of the gems of Indian literature, of any language.

Kathaalok is going to feature some of the star storytellers of India like Danish Husain, Manu Sikander Dhingra and Fauzia Dastango- India’s first female Dastango. Danish will be presenting a Tilismy, magic story from Hoshruba repertoire. Manu Sikander Dhingra will be narrating a musical rendition of the epic love story of Punjab- Qissa Heer Waris Shah in Hindustani And Fauzia will be presenting Dastane-ram in Urdu!

Along with two days of non-stop story marathon, you can be part of the Grand Finale- Story of Music Since Vedic Times- Sur Samay Yaan. Here music maestros and young artists will take the stage and present different styles of music developed over the centuries from “Parant to Dhrupad to Ladant to Khyal, Thumri and much more”

Kathaalok Jury is made of celebrated and accomplished storytellers and theatre personalities. Sh. J.P. Singh, Ms. Malvika Joshi, Ms. Shivani Pandey, Ms. Ambica Bhardwaj and Sh. Amit Tiwari. If you can impress them, you don’t just win the prizes, you will win camaraderie! There is also an open mic for non-competitive category of performances, come and win hearts! Kathaalok is supported by Ministry of Culture under their program Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. It is an initiative of Samay Yaan, a reference library and cultural centre. Sashakt Samaj is the parent organization of both, an NGO dedicated to better healthcare, access to education and cultural renaissance in India.

Kathaalok is an attempt to rekindle the love for Indian stories in the youth and bring to light hidden gems of Indian literature and wisdom. You too can be our youth brand ambassador for keeping the tradition of storytelling and stories of our ancestors alive.

For registration as a participant or a visitor, log on to kathaalok.com.

You can also write to us on samayyaanlive@gmail.com or call 8851357747