What does a startup festival look like when a pitch deck becomes a poem, a business plan a film, and a product a story?
At T-Works in Hyderabad, The Creative Festival by The August Fest 2026 found its answer in a room filled with artists, filmmakers, writers, chefs, designers, founders, students and creators — people quietly building businesses, communities and cultural worlds around ideas.
Presented with Sreenidhi University, the festival explored community, food, literature, identity, cinema and the creator economy, examining the emerging ‘orange economy’ — where imagination, culture, creativity and intellectual property became currency.
“Creative work is often celebrated for its beauty but not always understood for its economic value. This edition brings creativity and business together, recognising creativity as a force shaping new businesses, communities and careers,” said Kiran G, founder of The August Fest.
The festival opened with The Power of Community, featuring Sai Chaitanya Kokku, Priyanjana Roy Das, Sayeeda Jabri, Suhani Dhadphale and Nirmesh Gollamandala, moderated by Nandini Kuntamukkula. The conversation looked at new places where people find belonging — creative spaces, shared interests and communities built by people.
Coffee, Conversations & Spaces, featuring Darani Janarthanan, Niharika Vejendla, Pranathi Vallabhaneni and Rohith Chennamaneni, moderated by food and culture writer Amrutha Kothapally, explored how cafés and food spaces have become part of a city’s cultural fabric, where a table, a cup and an unhurried conversation can become the beginning of community.
Literature followed with What It Takes to Write Your First Book?, featuring Alisha Jain, Tuljha Bhavani Reddy, Mounika Tula and Maithreya Chakravarthula. On the other hand, Four Ways to Tell the Same Truth, brought together Sushma Chitta, Kishor Krishnamoorthi, Swathi and Vijay, Niral Uprit and Santo Mohan Veeranki to explore different creative languages.
For Niral Uprit, the youngest voice, the experience was about discovering her creative truth amid diverse forms of expression.
“It was amazing being the youngest on the panel. The discussions were meaningful and dynamic, with an insane range of industries — Telugu film, dance, stand-up comedy, visual art, handloom entrepreneurship and so much more. My panel was about finding my truth,” she said.
One of the day’s vibrant conversations, The Art of Creating Something People Love, brought Abhigna Rambhatla, Vaishnavi Rao Devakonda, Parnika Thummala, Ravi Raj and Vaishnavi Sharma Buddu together around how creators make something unmistakably theirs yet meaningful
to others.
For Parnika Thummala, the answer begins with identity. “Creativity doesn’t exist in silos anymore. I came into fashion through law, the social sector, sustainability and eventually entrepreneurship, so my journey has been interdisciplinary. My ventures extend things I’ve always been drawn to — Indian textiles, craft, colour, history and sustainability, alongside contemporary ways of dressing and living. I realised I didn’t need to choose between tradition and modernity; that tension could be my identity,” she shared.
Meanwhile, in The Launchpad, new work across art, fashion, film, literature and food was introduced, while stalls and demo pods transformed conversations into things people could see, touch, taste and experience. Emerging brands shared space with artists and consumer ventures, including some of the youngest entrepreneurs — founders as young as six and eight.
The Student Startup Pitch Session reinforced that entrepreneurship need not wait for a degree, job title or certain age. Creativity, the festival suggested, cannot remain confined to a stage.
Cinema brought memory through The People & Things We Can’t Forget, featuring actor Malavika Nair, producer Meher Kilaru, actor Vishwadev Rachakonda and casting director Pushpa Bhaskar. The conversation explored the people and moments that make cinema more than a product.
Then came The Economics of Attention, featuring Akanksha Kommirelly, Futa Sugano, Udhvithaa Harshaa Sharrma, Priyanka Neelam and Krishna Priya Akella, examining creativity, audiences and algorithms. In a world where being seen can feel as difficult as creating something worth seeing, attention became its own currency.
The day ended with The Caffeine Conspiracy, a participatory production by Ameya Drama that drew the audience into the action, dissolving the line between creator and spectator.
And perhaps that was the most fitting way to end a festival about creativity — with nobody quite sure where the stage ended and the audience began seamlessly.
