Euphoria, Anuv Jain, Raghubir Yadav, Pratik Gandhi, Aakash Gupta and Gurleen to perform at Repertwahr Fest in Lucknow

This year's addition includes residential tents, a sundowner silent disco, workshops, mega bazaar and curated food fest on Lucknow UNESCO Gatronomy city theme.

The 13th edition of the performing arts Repertwahr Festival is introducing several new additions to its theatre, music, stand-up comedy, literature, and bazaar sections. This year, the festival will feature residential tents, a sundowner silent disco, workshops, and an authentic cuisine fest.

Actor Pratik Gandhi, singer Anuv Jain, Dr Palash Sen's Euphoria band and comedian Aakash Gupta will be performing at the Repertwahr Festival

The four-day festival, to be held at Janeshwar Misra Park from December 18, will include main musical performances by singer Anuv Jain, Nikhil Chinapa, and Palash Sen-led band Euphoria.

File photo from last year's Repertwahr Festival held at Janeshwar Misra Park

“We have many firsts this time. Luxury tents with a residential experience are our experiment this time, where we will also organise food and heritage walks. There is a sundown techno stage with live silent disco music with headphones, curated by Nikhil Chiniapa. We will have a mega bazaar with 50 stalls featuring artisans from all over the country. Since Lucknow is now a UNESCO Gastronomy City, we have curated famous food delicacies for foodies,” said festival founder Bhoopesh Rai.

Atul Kumar's new play Ambaa that opened at the Prithvi Theatre recently will be staged in Lucknow on December 21

The festival will open at 11 am with the bazaar. “Our Shabd section will start at 2 pm with one hour of curated Fankar with artistes from Lucknow. Thereafter, the celebrities will be on stage for two hours. From 5 pm we will have stand-up comedy. At 6 pm, we will start silent techno and, simultaneously, we will have theatre in two different arenas which will cater to different audiences. Finally, we will have music from 8 pm,” said co-founder Priyanka Sarkar.

The festival’s USP has always been theatre, with which they began their journey back in 2009. “This year we have (actor) Pratik Gandhi’s solo performance in Mohan Ka Masala, inspired by Mahatma Gandhi’s book Satya Ka Masala. There is Manav Kaul’s group Jo Dooba So Paar, which is a musical dastaangoi by 18 artists on Amir Khusro. Lillete Dubey’s English play Vodka and No Tonic, written by Shobhaa De, features Era Dubey and Joy Sengupta. Finally, we have Atul Kumar’s new dark humour play Ambaa, which recently opened at Prithvi Theatre,” added Bhoopesh.

The stand-up comedy line-up comprises Aakash Gupta, Gaurav Gupta, and Gurleen Pannu. The literature corner, which will host poetry, talks, discussions, and music, features a range of performances, including a musical sojourn by the versatile Raghubir Yadav.

The schedule

Dec 18

Bazaar and food festival: All days

Shabd: Chandulal Kalburgi (sitar)

Deveshi Sahgal (Sufi-ghazal) 8pm

Theatre: Pratik Gandhi’s Mohan Ka Masala (6pm)

Dec 19

Shabd: Badal Sharma (3 pm)

Folk music The Aavhaana Project

Comedy: Aakash Gupta (5 pm)

Theatre: Manav Kaul’s Jo Dooba So Paar (6pm)

Taal: Skipster (6pm)

Mahol: Anuv Jain (8pm)

Dec 20

Shabd: Musical storytelling Raghubir Yadav

Dastangoi by Himanshu Bajpai & Pragya Sharma

Comedy: Gaurav Gupta

Theatre: Lillete Dubey’s Vodka and No Tonic

Taal: Laapata

Music: Nikhil Chinapa

Dec 21

Shabd: Waseem Barelvi

Justh

Comedy: Gurleen Pannu

Theatre: Atul Kumar’s Ambaa

Taal: Dr Sangria

Music: Euphoria (Palash Sen)