With the festive season coming to an end, you might be experiencing a lull and post-Puja blues. But worry not. The City of Joy is gearing up for a busy cultural season with a line-up of festivals and fairs that celebrate its art, literature, theatre and music. From film screenings to the love for books, the next few months promise a celebration of Bengali culture. Let’s take a look:
Kolkata International Film Festival
The season opens with the Kolkata International Film Festival, one of Asia’s oldest and most prestigious film events. The 2025 edition kicked off on 6 November with a screening of Uttam Kumar-Suchitra Sen-starrer ‘Saptapadi’. The festival will run till 13 November. The theme country this year is Poland. Screenings, retrospectives, and interactive sessions with filmmakers will be held across venues including Nandan, Rabindra Sadan, and Sisir Mancha.
Nandikar’s National Theatre Festival
Launched in 1984 to mark Nandikar’s silver jubilee, the Nandikar National Theatre Festival returns with its 42nd edition this December. Slated to be held from 16-25 December at Academy of Fine Arts, this year’s festival will feature stage productions by the likes of Debasish, Suman Mukhopadhyay, Sourav Palodhi, Koushik Sen and Saptarshi Maulik. The inaugural play will be Debasish-directed Aksharik.
Kolkata Christmas Festival
Park Street will once again transform into a glittering corridor of lights and music during the Kolkata Christmas Festival. Organised by the West Bengal government’s tourism department, the festival includes live music performances, food stalls, carol singing, drawing thousands of visitors each evening. The festival is generally inaugurated by chief minister Mamata Banerjee on 20 December every year.
Poush Mela in Santiniketan
Held every December in Santiniketan, Poush Mela is a century-old celebration of Bengal’s artistic and cultural heritage. Started in 1894, the three-day fair begins on the seventh day of the Bengali month of Poush. The fair brings together bauls, artisans, musicians, poets, and visitors from across the world and features folk performances, stalls selling handicrafts, handwoven clothes and a diverse collection of traditional Bengali delicacies.
Hastashilpa Mela
The annual handicrafts fair, officially called the Hastashilpa Mela, organised by the department of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises of the West Bengal government, features artisans from all the districts of the state. The stalls at this fair — held at the fair grounds opposite Eco Park Gate No. 1 in Newtown — feature handicrafts, handloom textiles, pottery, metalwork, and tribal art. The fair also includes live craft demonstrations and folk performances.
Dover Lane Music Conference
The Dover Lane Music Conference, among the most respected classical music events in the country, is usually held in January. The four-day nightlong concert series has featured leading exponents of Hindustani classical music, including D. V. Paluskar, Bade Ghulam Ali Khan, Tarapada Chakraborty, Chinmoy Lahiry, Amir Khan, Bhimsen Joshi, Balmurali Krishna, Ajoy Chakraborty, Rashid Khan, Gangubai Hangal,Hariprasad Chaurasia, Shiv Kumar Sharma and Zakir Hussain.
International Kolkata Book Fair
The winter season will culminate with the International Kolkata Book Fair, one of the largest of its kind in the world. Publishers, authors, and readers from across the globe gather at Salt Lake’s Central Park fairground for the event. Established in 1976, the 46th edition of the book fair, will be held from 22 January 22 till 3 February. The theme country for the upcoming edition will be a Latin American nation, the organisers had announced earlier this year. Alongside book stalls, open air performances and panel discussions on literature will also be held at the festival.