The Ministry of Culture, will organise the BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 from 12 to 14 October 2026 in New Delhi under India’s BRICS Presidency 2026. The three-day festival, themed “Shared Stories, Shared Futures”, will bring together over 100 theatre practitioners, scholars, students and cultural representatives from nine BRICS Member and Partner Countries.

Addressing the media, Shri Vivek Aggarwal, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, highlighted its significance as an important cultural engagement under India’s BRICS Presidency and its role in advancing people-to-people connections through theatre.

The Secretary said that the festival builds on the Bhopal Declaration adopted at the BRICS Culture Ministers’ Meeting in August 2026, which emphasized greater cultural cooperation, people-to-people exchanges and stronger networks among artists and cultural practitioners. India also proposed a voluntary Artist Registry to facilitate such exchanges. The festival carries this vision forward through performances and professional interactions among theatre practitioners from BRICS countries, he added.

The significance of the festival has also been recognised in the BRICS Leaders’ Declaration, which welcomed the Bhopal Declaration and noted initiatives aimed at strengthening cultural cooperation, cultural exchanges and people-to-people ties.

The festival will feature participation from India, Thailand, Indonesia, Russia, Vietnam, Iran, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Ethiopia. India will showcase two theatre productions, while the participating countries will present productions reflecting their diverse languages, theatrical traditions and contemporary creative expressions. Russia will be represented by two theatre groups.

The festival will be inaugurated at the National School of Drama on 12 October 2026. Performances will be staged at prominent theatre venues in New Delhi, including the National School of Drama and its Abhimanch Auditorium and Sammukh Auditorium, along with Kamani Auditorium, LTG Auditorium and Meghdoot Theatre.

The festival will showcase classical, contemporary and experimental forms of theatre. Interactive workshops and discussions involving directors, artistes and production teams will provide opportunities for exchange on artistic vision, performance traditions, acting methodologies, stagecraft and technical design.

The National School of Drama, an autonomous institution under the Ministry of Culture, will serve as the nodal agency for organising the festival.

The BRICS Theatre Festival 2026 seeks to strengthen cultural cooperation and people-to-people connections among BRICS countries by bringing together artistes, theatre practitioners and audiences through a shared artistic platform.

Schedule of the BRICS Theatre Festival 2026

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M Annadurai