The second edition of the Sikkim Arts and Literature Festival (SALF) 2026 will take place from October 28 to 30 at Ridge Park in Gangtok, Sikkim. The dates were announced at a press conference in Gangtok attended by MLA Gangtok Shri Delay Namgyal Barfungpa, MLA Soreng-Chakung Shri Aditya Golay Tamang, Chairman of the Student Welfare Board Shri Sonam Chopel Sherpa, Chairperson of the Culture Department Smt. Bhim Kumari Sharma, and Senior Vice President of Teamwork Arts Shri Syed Shams Jawaid.
A three-day festival, SALF will bring together writers, poets, thinkers, artists and cultural practitioners for conversations, poetry, performances, workshops and literary exchange.
An initiative of Hon’ble Chief Minister Prem Singh Tamang (Golay), the festival is presented by the Students’ Welfare Board, Education Department, Government of Sikkim, and produced by Teamwork Arts. The second edition continues its focus on creating a platform for dialogue, creativity and youth engagement, while connecting Sikkim’s cultural voices with national and international perspectives.
The festival is open and free to all and will highlight Sikkim’s literary and cultural traditions, diverse communities, languages, histories and oral traditions. It will also bring the music, stories and experiences of Sikkim and the wider Himalayan region into discussions around identity, memory, landscape, belonging and contemporary culture.
The 2026 edition will feature writers and cultural voices including Chuden Kabimo, Mamang Dai, Nawaraj Parajuli, Ranjit Hoskote, William Dalrymple, Yuvan Aves, Guru T. Ladakhi and Stephen Alter, among others.
The programme will include Echoes of Verse, featuring Mamang Dai and Ranjit Hoskote in conversation with Guru T. Ladakhi on poetry, memory, landscape and lived experience. कविता कन्सर्ट: Beats of Poetry will feature poet Nawaraj Parajuli, bringing poetry to the stage through rhythm and performance.
Another session, These Hills Called Home, will see Chuden Kabimo and Stephen Alter in conversation with Sharda Chhetri on identity, belonging, memory and the Himalayan landscape. A Borderland State of Mind will feature Akhilesh Upadhyay, Pema Wangchuk Dorjee and Satyadeep S. Chettri in conversation with Anuradha Sharma, focusing on experiences and perspectives shaped by life in borderland regions.
Youth engagement will remain a key focus of SALF 2026. The festival will provide young audiences and emerging voices with opportunities to interact with established writers, artists and thinkers. Workshops for children and audiences across age groups will also be conducted by Gangtok-based creative organisers Tangible Tangerines and Mind Matters.
Rooted in Sikkim’s cultural landscape, SALF 2026 aims to create a space for local voices to meet national and international perspectives, while bringing attention to the literary, artistic and contemporary stories of the Himalayas.
