New Delhi to Host BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 in October

The Ministry of Culture will organise the BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 in New Delhi from 12 to 14 October, bringing together more than 100 theatre practitioners, scholars, students and cultural representatives from nine BRICS member and partner countries.

The three-day event, held under India's BRICS Presidency 2026, carries the theme "Shared Stories, Shared Futures". Announcing the festival, Culture Secretary Vivek Aggarwal described it as a significant cultural engagement of India's presidency and a means of deepening people-to-people ties through theatre.

The festival builds on the Bhopal Declaration adopted at the BRICS Culture Ministers' Meeting in August 2026, which called for greater cultural cooperation, exchanges between peoples and stronger networks among artists and cultural practitioners. India also proposed a voluntary Artist Registry to support such exchanges. The Leaders' Declaration welcomed the Bhopal Declaration and took note of initiatives aimed at strengthening cultural cooperation and people-to-people links.

Participating countries include India, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Vietnam, Iran, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia. India will present two theatre productions, while Russia will be represented by two theatre groups. The other participating nations will stage works reflecting their languages, theatrical traditions and contemporary creative expression.

The National School of Drama will host the inauguration on 12 October. Performances will be held at the school's Abhimanch and Sammukh auditoriums as well as at Kamani Auditorium, LTG Auditorium and Meghdoot Theatre.

The programme spans classical, contemporary and experimental theatre. Workshops and discussions involving directors, artistes and production teams will offer scope for exchange on artistic vision, performance traditions, acting methodologies, stagecraft and technical design.

The National School of Drama, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, is the nodal agency for the festival, which aims to strengthen cultural cooperation among BRICS countries by placing artistes, practitioners and audiences on a shared artistic platform.