Hyderabad Literary Fest 2026 gets underway: Here is all you want to know

Hyderabad Literary Festival 2026 will be held at Sattva Knowledge City from January 24 to 26 at Hitec City, featuring literature, climate conversations, and music. Governor Jishnu Dev Varma will inaugurate the event, with Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi as the guest of honour.

There will be fun activities and panel discussions, as the annual Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) will be held at the Sattva Knowledge City, Hitec City, for the third consecutive year.

About HLF

The HLF is a celebration of literature, culture, art, and conversations that transcends borders and generations, with a focus on a particular guest nation, highlighting linguistic diversity in India.

It is free and open to anyone who wants to attend. It will feature diverse streams like poetry, science, culture, workshops, and exhibitions, celebrating literature and heritage with themes including Hyderabadi history and handwoven textiles.

It's a free, public event organized by the Hyderabad Literary Trust, offering insights into local stories, art, and history.

The 15th edition of HLF is expected to be filled with exciting activities, workshops, performances, and interactive sessions with authors and speakers, along with a dedicated exhibition to honour the last recognized Nizam of Hyderabad, Mukarram Jah.

Annual Event

Hyderabad Literary Festival (HLF) is an annual event that celebrates creativity in all its forms. HLF is a multi-genre, multidisciplinary, and multilingual event that features nearly 300 authors, artistes, academics, media professionals, independent scholars, public intellectuals, and science communicators from India and abroad each year.

Started in 2010, the festival has emerged as an unmissable event in the city’s and country’s cultural calendar. It represents the rich and cosmopolitan ethos of the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad, as well as the vibrant spirit of modern Cyberabad.

Interactive Spaces

Beyond books and panel discussions, the festival offers a wide range of interactive spaces. A canvas gallery curated by artist Radha Yamini will spotlight fresh and emerging creative voices from Hyderabad.

Visitors can also explore a flea market featuring local businesses, along with a Documentary Booth created in collaboration with Project Non-Fiction, dedicated to screening thought-provoking non-fiction films. For those keen on visual storytelling and social media trends, the Reel Booth provides a space to create short videos and interact with dance group Team Nritya.

Another experiential zone, ‘Manifest Your Route’, invites audiences to visualize and share their dream travel stories.

3-day Highlights

On January 24, climate conversations in the field of environmental conservation, biodiversity, the climate, and the natural world are scheduled, followed by a musical evening with AabhaHanjura.

On January 25, ‘Kavitvam Oka TeeraniDaaham’ is scheduled with a 60-minute performance featuring a cast of five, weaving together poetic works from the 13th to the 21st century across four languages, including Telugu, Hindi, English, and Urdu.

On January 26, Sameer Rahat, a Bombay-based composer, lyricist, and performer, will present a concert on the final day of the HLF.

Several Indigenous poets, storytellers, writers, artists, folklorists, and researchers are participating this year. The story-weavers Stream at HLF 2026, which features a vibrant range of multilingual narratives and talks offering something for listeners of all ages and sensibilities, is to be organized during the three-day event.

Youngistaan Nukkad

YoungistaanNukkad is bringing you 3 days of music, films, performances, talks, street plays, open mic,s and pure creative energy- all under one roof. From powerful conversations to live bands, podcasts to poetry, improv to dance, something is happening every hour.

Like the previous years, the lit fest will have a canvas gallery, this time curated by artist Radha Yamini, to showcase fresh and new creativity by young creative folks of Hyderabad.

Things to look for

There will be a flea market with the city’s local businesses showcasing their stalls and a Documentary Booth, in collaboration with Project Non-Fiction, which is a space entirely dedicated to screening thought-provoking documentaries.

There’s also a Reel Booth for those interested in creating trendy videos where the audience can also interact with dance group Team Nritya, while the ‘Manifest Your Route’ will be a space to manifest dream travelogues.

In store is a playful corner, ‘Corner Jenga,’ for friends, artists, or even strangers to come together to create comic strip illustrations using Jenga blocks.

The HLF will also have a photobooth for the audience to click photos in ‘retro madness’ and save memories of the day.

People can also indulge in a dedicated zone for Zines, which are magazines not for commercial use and are homemade or online publications with unconventional subject matter. This zone allows the audience to make, read,d or purchase them.

Then there is also a souvenir store, described as “a shop for the little memories of life,” and a Kashmiri edition of hopscotch competition, where the audience is required to be a “pop-culture nerd” to win.

Stage performances and story weavers

The HLF will be hosting the “Youngistaan Nukkad,” where people can showcase all art forms, from open mics to flash mobs and jamming sessions. This segment of the lit fest will witness a host of colourful performances.

The storyweavers segment will feature storytelling sessions by Hyderabad-based participants as well as speakers from across the country.

Climate conversations and science stalls

The Climate Conversations segment is curated by EkoGalaxy and is bringing big names from the field of climate and biodiversity to the festival.

EkoGalaxy is a platform for climate education that partners with schools in India and Europe, and represents the UNESCO Greening Education Partnership.

The festival will also feature STEM stalls, with institutes such as BITS Pilani–Hyderabad, IIT Hyderabad, and the University of Hyderabad’s astronomy club participating.

Stage Talks

Stage Talks will feature speakers like Namita Devidayal, Rekha Bhatnagar, Sumana Chandrashekar, Arshiya Sethi, Anuradha Naik, and several other well-known authors.

Exhibitions

The literary festival will also have several well-curated exhibitions, including one showcasing the history of Hyderabad, textile displays, a photography exhibition capturing dogs during the pandemic, and other niche subjects.

Book Event

A book event featuring Arunadha Naik in conversation with Prince Azmet Jah will be held on Saturday, January 24, during which a special exhibition commemorating the birth anniversary of the last recognized Nizam of Hyderabad will be discussed in detail.