With October’s heat still lingering in Delhi, the city is preparing to welcome the Himalayas and the Northeast once again. The third edition of Royal Enfield Social Mission’s Journeying Across the Himalayas (JATH) festival will take place from December 3 to 10.
Centred on the theme of ‘Becoming’, this year’s festival brings the music, food, art and cultural traditions of Himalayan communities, along with their knowledge systems, to the capital.
“‘Becoming’ is the continuous process of adapting, reinterpreting, and carrying forward traditions within a dynamic, rapidly changing context,” says Bidisha Dey, executive director of the Eicher Group Foundation, who is overseeing the festival. “For the Himalayan region and its communities, this is a lived reality. The landscape is in a constant state of flux, shaped by shifting climate patterns, changing terrains, and historical and modern migrations.”
This year’s edition will feature more than 100 experiences spanning art, music, food and craft. The festival will also introduce a performing arts partnership with Delhi-based Oddbird Theatre, supporting over 55 artists across eight acts.
The programme includes installations and exhibitions, live musical performances, culinary experiences and interactive workshops and expert panel conversations. Film screenings and the Himalayan Bazaar, featuring curated retail offerings, will round out the programme. It will also feature immersive installations, films and artistic documentation exploring cultural practices and preservation. Artists and practitioners contributing to the programme include Gautam Pandey, Vibha Galhotra, Ravi Agarwal in collaboration with Sukanya Deb, and Soumya Yadav.
Among the highlights is The Open Kitchen, a culinary programme exploring regional food and tea traditions. Experiences include MOMO: Migration, Identity & Memory in Kalimpong by chef Ishita Dewan, an Assam tea tasting by sommelier Dona Aiedeau and A Living Bridge of Flavours by Rynsan Shillong, led by culinary director and Khasi musician Hammarsing L Kharhmar.
At the Himalayan Bazaar, visitors will be able to explore knitwear, apparel, textiles, home décor and accessories across 45 brands and craft collectives, while connecting directly with the artisans behind the products. “What excites us most is how these experiences come together, allowing audiences to see how music, craft, food and stories exist in dialogue with one another, just as they do in everyday Himalayan life,” says Dey.
Music remains central to the festival, with a line-up featuring Arunachal Pradesh’s indie-folk favourite Taba Chake, Himachali rock musician Raman Negi and Kashmiri folk-pop singer Aabha Hanjura. Together, they bring distinct sounds and musical traditions from across the region to Delhi.
For Dey, the festival is ultimately a celebration of “the people who inhabit a region we revere as our spiritual home”. It also marks the annual culmination of the Royal Enfield Social Mission’s conservation and community initiatives across the Himalayas. These include snow leopard conservation efforts in Ladakh and Sikkim, the documentation of 200 intangible cultural heritage (ICH) practices, and support for craft clusters that connect local artisans with wider audiences.
Beyond presenting the region’s cultural expressions, the festival seeks to give Himalayan communities greater agency in how their stories are told and shared. By bringing traditional practitioners and contemporary artists together, it creates a shared space for oral histories, inherited practices and experimental sounds to reach urban audiences.
Addressing the longstanding underrepresentation of Himalayan communities, Dey argues, requires moving away from top-down development towards genuine community agency, “where local voices hold direct authority over their own stories and creative contributions”.
Tickets are now available at BookMyShow