Udaipur, January 7, 2025 - A three-day storytelling festival will be held from January 10, featuring storytellers from India and abroad. The Udaipur Tales Storytelling Festival, established by the Maa Mai Anchor Foundation, will be held at the Darpan Sabhagar, located near Park Exotica Resort on Shilpgram Road, Udaipur.

Salil Bhandari, co-founder of the foundation, said this event is not just a celebration of oral storytelling but a cultural initiative to establish Udaipur as the capital of storytelling in India.

Co-founder Sushmita Singha highlighted the significance of the event, explaining that Udaipur Tales is not limited to the stories shared during these three days. It is an effort to revive Rajasthan’s tradition, where oral storytelling has been an integral part of Indian culture.

Renowned Dastango artist Syed Sahil Agha, who has played an important role in reviving this ancient art form, will be participating in the festival. He has been associated with the festival for many years and introduced a unique storytelling style called Jumlebazi during the 2020 Udaipur Storytelling Festival. Inspired by the 13th-century Sufi poet Amir Khusro, this style involves Agha engaging with the audience and crafting a story on the spot using their suggested words.

Prominent Indian storytellers such as Divy Nidhi Sharma, Devdutt Patnaik, Fauzia Dastango, Makrand Deshpande, Ajay Kumar, Ahmed Faraz, Debjani, Shweta Nadkarni, Shilpa Mehta, Shona Malhotra, Aditya Kothakota and Rajat from Kahaniwala will participate in the festival, according to Bhandari. International storytellers from France and Latin America will also take part. In addition, Qawwali group Qutbi Brothers will perform and add to the festival’s charm.

This year, for the first time, a unique initiative was taken when a storytelling competition was held for prisoners at Udaipur's Central Jail. Additionally, a storytelling competition for students from Vidya Bhavan School and other local private schools was organised in which more than 120 students took part. The winners will be felicitated during the event.