Gangtok: The second edition of the Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival (SALF) will be held from October 28 to 30 at Ridge Park in Gangtok, bringing together writers, poets, artists and cultural practitioners from Sikkim, the Northeast and beyond.
The festival dates were announced at a press conference in Gangtok attended by Gangtok MLA Delay Namgyal Barfungpa, Soreng-Chakung MLA Aditya Golay Tamang, Student Welfare Board chairman Sonam Chopel Sherpa, Culture Department chairperson Bhim Kumari Sharma and Teamwork Arts senior vice-president Syed Shams Jawaid.
SALF is an initiative of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang and is presented by the Students’ Welfare Board, Education Department, Government of Sikkim, and produced by Teamwork Arts.
The three-day festival will feature discussions, poetry, performances, workshops and other literary and cultural programmes. The festival will be open and free to the public.
Writers and cultural practitioners scheduled to participate include Chuden Kabimo, Mamang Dai, Nawaraj Parajuli, Ranjit Hoskote, William Dalrymple, Yuvan Aves, Guru T. Ladakhi and Stephen Alter.
The programme will include sessions on poetry, identity, memory, the Himalayan landscape and life in border regions.
“Echoes of Verse” will feature Mamang Dai and Ranjit Hoskote in conversation with Guru T. Ladakhi, while “कविता कन्सर्ट: Beats of Poetry” will feature Nepali poet Nawaraj Parajuli.
Another session, “These Hills Called Home”, will bring together Chuden Kabimo and Stephen Alter in conversation with Sharda Chhetri to discuss identity, belonging, memory and the Himalayan landscape.
“A Borderland State of Mind” will feature Akhilesh Upadhyay, Pema Wangchuk Dorjee and Satyadeep S. Chettri in conversation with Anuradha Sharma, focusing on experiences and identities shaped by life in border regions.
Youth engagement will be a key focus of the festival, with young audiences and emerging writers expected to interact with established authors, artists and thinkers.
Workshops for children and other age groups will also be held, facilitated by Gangtok-based creative organisations Tangible Tangerines and Mind Matters.
The 2026 edition will also include discussions on climate change, wildlife conservation, biodiversity, history, culture and ethnicity, architecture, folklore, mental health, literature from the Northeast, fiction and young adult literature.
The festival is aimed at creating a platform for local writers and artists while connecting Sikkim’s literary and cultural work with national and international voices.
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