Festival of Festivals 3.0 Brings India’s Leading Literary Platforms Together at New Delhi World Book Fair 2026
The New Delhi World Book Fair 2026’s Festival of Festivals 3.0 is transforming Bharat Mandapam into a shared national platform for India’s leading literary festivals and cultural forums. Conceived as a celebration of diverse literary traditions, ideas, and voices, Festival of Festivals 3.0 brings together multiple visions under the larger umbrella of NDWBF, reinforcing its position as the country’s most inclusive and wide-ranging literary gathering. Over 100 speakers are participating across various sessions, including book launches, panel discussions and curated conversations.
The Nalanda International Literature Festival draws inspiration from the legacy of ancient Nalanda as a global seat of knowledge, highlighting India’s intellectual traditions rooted in the Vedas, Sanskrit, Yoga, Ayurveda, and Indian knowledge systems. Curated by Vaishali Seta, who has worked extensively on the revival of Nalanda University, the sessions reflected on Nalanda’s enduring relevance in a contemporary global context, with poetic and reflective exchanges anchoring the discussions.
Literary conversations under the Great Indian Book Tour expanded the scope of the Festival of Festivals 3.0 with panels exploring how fiction draws meaning from ordinary lives, how real-life struggles are transformed into motivational narratives and why certain books succeed in creating lasting impact.
The Festival’s collaborative spirit is further reflected by the participating organisers. Mr. Manoj Krishnan of the Asian Literary Society highlighted the Fair as an opportunity to bring Asian literature to a wider Indian audience through initiatives like the Asian Literary Confluence and ALS Caravan in Indonesia and Singapore. Puri Literary Festival’s Mr. Shashank Shekhar emphasized NDWBF’s role as the largest B2B platform where readers directly connect with authors and publishers, allowing them to explore diverse themes from Badass Begums to The Lives We Inherit. Mrs. Vaishali from Nalanda Literature Festival described the platform as a stage to present Nalanda’s vision of reimagining Bharat as a Vishwaguru while gaining national and global visibility.
One of the participating literary festivals is the Bharat Literature Festival presenting conversations across leadership, spirituality, culture and contemporary issues from speakers like Smriti Irani, Hema Malini, Ricky Kej, Kailash Satyarthi and many more.
Organiser of The Great Indian Book Tour, Mr Prashant emphasised the Tour’s mission to empower emerging authors from across the country, and noted that the Festival provides crucial visibility and access for new voices. Mrs. Chandani Mathur of Worldlywise Publications appreciated the National Book Trust’s efforts in nurturing a reading culture. ‘Free entry has drawn large and diverse audiences,’ she said, reinforcing that the value of literature lies not only in sales but in sustaining a culture of reading.
With the Asian Literary Society, Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival, Bharat Literature Festival, Puri Literary Festival, Nalanda Literature Festival, The Great Indian Book Tour, Anecdote Publishing House and Wordlywise Publications set to participate in the coming days, the Festival of Festivals continues to grow as a defining feature of NDWBF 2026. By weaving together multiple literary voices and offering a space for dialogue, mentorship, and discovery, the festival not only celebrates literature in all its forms but also underscores its enduring relevance in a rapidly evolving cultural landscape.
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