Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival returns to Gangtok this October

The second edition of the Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival (SALF) is scheduled to take place from October 28 to 30 at Ridge Park in Gangtok. An initiative of Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang, the festival is presented by the Students’ Welfare Board and the Education Department of the Government of Sikkim, with production by Teamwork Arts.

The three-day event will be free to the public and aims to provide a platform for dialogue, creativity, and youth engagement. The program will feature discussions, poetry, workshops, and performances centered on themes such as identity, memory, the Himalayan landscape, and life in border regions.

Prominent participants include writers and cultural practitioners such as Mamang Dai, Nawaraj Parajuli, Ranjit Hoskote, William Dalrymple, Chuden Kabimo, Yuvan Aves, Guru T. Ladakhi, and Stephen Alter. Specific sessions include “Echoes of Verse,” “Beats of Poetry,” and “These Hills Called Home,” designed to connect local cultural voices with national and international perspectives.