Delhi to host Rainbow Lit Fest

CHENNAI: The Rainbow Lit Fest – Queer and Inclusive is set to take place at the Gulmohar Park Club, New Delhi, on December 9 and 10.

Bringing together diverse voices from across the nation, the Rainbow Lit Fest seeks to discuss queerness, find common ground and stitch more informed narratives about the LGBTQIA+ community.

More than 60 speakers, entertainers and performers will participate in the festival.

In about 30 sessions covering a wide variety of topics, they will celebrate queerness and love while encouraging inclusivity.

The festival will open with a spotlight session with director Jaydeep Sarkar, maker of the new queer docuseries Rainbow Rishta. There will be more such spotlight sessions with Saurabh Kirpal, senior advocate and author, actor Kalki Koechlin, Seema Anand, London-based mythologist and intimacy columnist, and Hoshang Merchant, modern India’s first openly gay poet.

Other prominent speakers include Alankrita Shrivastava, director and writer, actor Mona Ambegaonkar, Jaya Sharma, queer feminist activist, Urvashi Butalia, author and activist, Akhil Katyal, poet and queer activist, and lots more.

Exploring themes of love and the law, social hierarchies and identities, the relationship between mythology, literature and culture, and the overlap between queer rights and feminism, among other things, the conversations will revolve around the Rainbow Lit Fest’s aim to unravel queer history, acknowledge present realities and work towards a hopeful future.

Besides history and academia, the fest delves into the subcontinent’s rich culture of folklore and fluidity to bring together an immersive two-day experience.

Five films that cover different aspects of queerness will be screened at the festival.

Mumbai-based Tamasha Theatre is set to perform Be-loved, an intriguing saga exploring love and freedom through a queer lens.

Performances by queer artistes feature musician John Oinam and band, drag performer Lush Monsoon, Geetanjali and Katukaleen rendering Kumaoni folk music, trans performer Avatari Devi, and Gayathri Sharma and Bhadra Sinha in a Bharatnatyam production representing the Ardhanarishvara philosophy.

The winners of the first-ever Rainbow Awards for Literature and Journalism will be announced and felicitated on the second day of the event. The fest will also see queer-run enterprises at work through stalls and pop-ups. In addition, there would be a bookstore run by the 'queer-friendly' Kunzum.