Event alert: International Storytelling Festival in Udaipur from 9th-11th January 2026

Udaipur Tales International Storytelling Festival, India’s one-of-a-kind international oral storytelling festival will return for its 7th edition, in the scenic city of Udaipur. This one-of-a-kind international storytelling festival aims to celebrate diverse storytelling genres such as contemporary, romance, dastangoi, historical, mystery, horror, thriller, and folk, among others. The festival will be held from 9th-11th January 2026 at Park Exotica Resport, Udauipur.The 2026 festival lineup includes: Divya Dutta, Rajit Kapur, Arif Zakaria, Divy Nidhi Sharma, Meiyang Chang, Danish Hussain, Mayur Kalbag, Prithwiraj Choudhury, Geetika Lidder, Vilas Janve, Jyoti Pandey, & others. Every Udaipur Tales book is about finding that connection again through voices, traditions, and experiences that touch our hearts. The 2026 edition will bring together a wide range of storytellers and listeners to celebrate stories that bring people together, inspire them, and heal them. With sign language interpreters, participation from blind school students, and honours for master storytellers, the festival embodies inclusivity. Emerging voices will be celebrated through the open-mic segment Jamghat and children’s storytelling competitions. Speaking on the festival, Sushmita Singha, Co-founder of Udaipur Tales, said: “Storytelling is the purest form of human connection. And the festival aims to carry forward this tradition."Extending this spirit of inclusion, Jamghat, the festival’s open, participative talent platform, will take place across all three days in the afternoon from 3:00 PM to 5:00 PM, serving as a space for talent-hunting and community engagement. The segment will feature open mics, storytelling competitions for participants ranging from homemakers and college students to independent and first-time performers, along with prize presentations for the school storytelling competition, independent music sets and a range of spontaneous performances.