From Rajasthan’s Living Craft Traditions to Its Rich Storytelling Heritage, Serendipity Arts Festival Returns to Goa

Serendipity Arts Festival returns to Panaji, Goa, from 13–20 December 2026, bringing together artistic practices, regional traditions, and contemporary perspectives from across India. This year, Rajasthan finds representation through the textile practices of the Kalbelia community, the Thar Desert’s appliqué traditions, and Dohri Zindagi, a theatrical adaptation of a story by celebrated Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha. Together, these projects offer audiences different entry points into the region’s cultural heritage, spanning traditional craftsmanship, material memory and oral storytelling.

Reflecting on this year’s programme and the unexpected connections it creates across artistic disciplines, Sunil Kant Munjal, Founder & Patron, Serendipity Arts, says: “From the start, the Festival has actively encouraged different artistic practices, ideas, and communities to cross paths. Including a majority of the art forms in its fold. This year’s programme builds on that spirit, with a broad selection of projects that move across disciplines, geographies, and generations. We hope some of the most exciting moments will come from unexpected connections, as tradition meets experimentation, the local meets the global, and established practices meet new voices. We want the Festival to remain a place where audiences can approach the arts with curiosity and openness, and leave seeing things a little differently.”

From the Kalbelia Community to Rajasthan’s Textile and Storytelling Traditions

The Kalbelia Craft Revival Project, part of Discards: Held in Repair, brings together artist Juhi Sharma and members of the Kalbelia community—Lad Bai, Choti Bai, Sushila Bai and Kali Bai. Curated by Sreyansi Singh, the project explores textile repair and mending as ways of preserving material memory, reflecting on how cloth holds stories of inheritance, loss and belonging.

Rajasthan’s textile heritage also features in Echoes of White, curated by Kshitij Jhalori. The project brings together craft practices including Thar Desert appliqué, Jamdani, Chikankari, Parsi embroidery, Zardozi and Aari work. Through textile panels that draw attention to disappearing tropical flora, it connects traditional making practices with urgent questions around ecology and the natural world.

The programme also celebrates Rajasthan’s literary and oral storytelling heritage through Dohri Zindagi, based on a story by acclaimed Rajasthani writer Vijaydan Detha, curated by Mahesh Dattani. Drawing on the traditional Kawad storytelling form, the production brings a regional narrative tradition into conversation with contemporary performance.

Together, these projects reflect the many ways cultural knowledge is carried forward—through materials and making, through stories passed between generations, and through artistic practices that find new meaning in the present.

Speaking about the spirit of discovery that runs through this year’s edition, Shefali Munjal, Co-Founder & Patron, Serendipity Arts, says: “If one thread runs through this edition, it is discovery. You might enter the Festival through a performance or an exhibition, a conversation or a meal, a piece of music or a chance encounter in a public space, and each is a different doorway in. Behind those doorways, we have seen artists start from what is closest to them, their own histories and traditions, and use it to speak to the world we live in now. That gives the programme real range, while keeping it close to home. We hope audiences will find their own points of connection within it.”

A December of Art, Music, Theatre and Food

Beyond its engagement with regional craft and storytelling, Serendipity Arts Festival invites audiences to experience Goa through a wide-ranging programme of visual arts, music, theatre, dance, design and culinary experiences. Theatre highlights include Belly of the Beast and The Queen, while music audiences can look forward to performances by folk-rock band Swarathma and Tribute to Shobha Gurtu by Trilok Gurtu. Food-led experiences explore culinary histories, regional ingredients and traditions, offering another way to encounter the cultural stories that shape everyday life.

Reflecting on the range of practices and perspectives brought together this year, Smriti Rajgarhia, Director, Serendipity Arts, says: “One of the most rewarding aspects of putting this programme together has been seeing how differently artists respond to the questions of our time. Across disciplines, there is an interest in looking again at histories, traditions, identities, landscapes and ways of living, and in finding new forms through which to tell those stories. We have tried to create the conditions for artists to experiment while staying true to their individual practices, and to give audiences the time and space to engage with that work on their own terms. I think the result is a Festival that is diverse in form, but connected by a genuine spirit of inquiry.”

Make a December Getaway Out of Your Goa Visit

With its mix of exhibitions, performances, craft, music, theatre, design and food, Serendipity Arts Festival offers visitors an opportunity to experience Goa through its cultural spaces and public life. From Rajasthan’s living traditions to contemporary artistic practices from across India, the Festival invites audiences to discover new perspectives, encounter familiar histories in unexpected ways and make a cultural getaway of their December visit.

Registration is open at serendipityartsfestival.com/register.

About Serendipity Arts

Serendipity Arts is a not-for-profit foundation nurturing artistic practice, research, and cross-cultural dialogue across South Asia. We believe the arts have the power to foster empathy, curiosity, and meaningful connection, and everything we do is guided by that conviction.

Through grants, residencies, collaborative projects, and art writing initiatives, we support emerging and established artists working across disciplines, from visual arts and music to theatre, dance, craft, photography, and beyond. We are equally committed to education and sustainability in the arts, recognising that a thriving creative ecology depends on long-term investment in both people and practice.

Alongside our year-round programmes, we are proud to host the Serendipity Arts Festival in Panjim, Goa, South Asia’s largest multidisciplinary arts festival. Held annually with free public access, the festival brings together artists, institutions, and audiences in a spirit of openness and shared discovery, celebrating the civic responsibility of supporting the arts.