Kolkata is set to host a three-day celebration of Indian music, dance and traditional performance, bringing together prominent artists from a range of classical, folk and devotional traditions. The Kolkata Tradition Festival 2026 will feature acclaimed performers including singer Lopamudra Mitra, devotional music exponent Anup Jalota, percussionist Bickram Ghosh, drummer Sivamani and dancer Priti Patel, alongside a wider line-up of established artists.
The festival will begin on 2 October at South City International School, 375 Prince Anwar Shah Road, with performances starting at 5.30pm. Running until 4 October, the event is designed to present several strands of India’s diverse cultural heritage on a single platform, with classical music, Bengali folk traditions, dance, devotional music and percussion forming the core of the programme.
The event is being organised by the Hindusthan Art and Music Society, in association with Bharat Sanskriti Yatra, an initiative of Eternal Sounds. Across three days, the programme will move between different musical and artistic traditions, giving audiences an opportunity to experience performances that represent distinct regional and stylistic influences.
The opening day will begin with ‘Banglar Lokkotha’, a presentation centred on Bengali folk music featuring Lopamudra Mitra and Dohar. Mitra is widely associated with contemporary Bengali music, while Dohar has built a repertoire around Bengal’s folk traditions. Their appearance is expected to give the opening programme a strong regional character.
Another major attraction on the first day will be ‘Trikaal’, bringing together Grammy Award-winning Pandit L. Shankar, Padma Shri recipient Pandit Tarun Bhattacharya, Bickram Ghosh, Pulak Sarkar and Pranab Dutta. The programme will be followed by Kathak performances by Guru Gajendra Panda and Guru Madhumita Roy, adding a classical dance dimension to the day’s line-up.
The second day will turn the spotlight towards Hindustani classical music, percussion and devotional repertoire. Begum Parveen Sultana, a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, will present a special performance accompanied by Pandit Samar Saha and Pandit Jyoti Goswami. Her appearance forms one of the central classical music programmes of the festival.
Percussionist and drummer Sivamani, a Padma Shri awardee, will present ‘Agnir Baadya’, a performance built around the expressive possibilities of rhythm and percussion. The day’s programme will also feature a devotional music segment led by Padma Shri Pandit Anup Jalota, joined by Pandit Prosenjit Poddar. Jalota’s long association with bhajan music will bring a distinct devotional character to the festival’s second evening.
The final day will continue the festival’s emphasis on bringing different traditions into dialogue. ‘Oitijhyer Milan’ will feature Pandit Vishwa Mohan Bhatt, Vidwan Shashank Subramanyam, Yashwant Vaishnav and Kishore Ramesh. The programme will be followed by Pandit Gobinda Bose’s ‘Taaler Dhwani’, placing rhythm and percussion at the heart of another performance.
Dance will again have a prominent place in the closing day’s programme through ‘Bharater Nrityadhara’, presented by Guru Priti Patel and Jaya Shilghosh. The performance will add another layer to a festival that seeks to bring together music and dance rather than treating them as separate cultural forms.
The choice of venue also reflects the festival’s broader cultural focus. South City International School, established in 2009, is located on Prince Anwar Shah Road in Kolkata and is associated not only with education but also with activities connected to music, dance, theatre and visual arts. Hosting a multi-disciplinary cultural programme at such a venue provides a setting where artistic performance and educational engagement can meet.
With its three-day schedule, the festival brings together artists representing folk, classical, devotional and contemporary approaches to Indian performance. Rather than concentrating on a single genre, its programme moves across musical and dance traditions, offering audiences a broad view of India’s performing arts.
For Kolkata’s cultural calendar, the festival represents an occasion where established names from different artistic disciplines will share the same stage. From Bengali folk music and Kathak to Hindustani classical singing, bhajan, percussion and instrumental traditions, the programme is built around the variety and continuity of India’s performing arts heritage.
