Wayanad Literature Festival to Have Its Third Edition in December 2026
New Delhi: The Wayanad Literature Festival is returning for its third edition this December. The festival will be held in Dwaraka, Mananthavady, Kerala and is scheduled from December 20 to 23, 2026. Widely known as India's first and largest literature festival organised in a rural setting, WLF has grown rapidly since its inaugural edition in 2022.
The biennial event attracts thousands of visitors and hundreds of speakers each year, with prominent figures from the fields of literature, law, cinema and journalism attending the event. The last edition of the fest in 2024 welcomed over 1.1 lakh attendees with more than 400 speakers on stage. Furthermore, the festival's recorded content garnered nearly 70 million views online.
Previous editions of WLF have drawn eminent speakers like Arundhati Roy, Prakash Raj, K.R. Meera, Benyamin, Justice Jasti Chelameshwar, P.C. Musthafa, Amitava Kumar, Thomas John Muthoot, S. Hareesh, E.P. Rajagopalan, Karthika V.K., Dhanya Rajendran and Neha Dixit. the speaker list for 2026 is yet to released.
The festival's location, Wayanad, is pivotal to its charm and importance. The area is not connected through railway networks or airport and is located far away from major urban centres. WLF's founder and director, Vinod K. Jose, views this as a defining feature rather than a limitation.
Believing that the festival conjures its strength from the community itself, which gives it a character urban festivals rarely achieve, Jose noted in a press release on Thursday (June 25), "By default it becomes more grounded and more life-giving; it becomes a celebration of ordinary people – their resilience, expression and need for representation. Mixing with the local population are the large number of visiting, eclectic crowds."
Talking about the deep respect and affection people hold for WLF, senior journalist and curator Leena Gita said, "The fact that we've found such a deep place in people's hearts is a testament to the festival's independence, the strength of its programming and the vital politics it champions."
Beyond literary sessions, the festival is home to several other programmes such as a film festival, academic conferences, book fair, food stalls, farmers' market, heritage walks, masterclasses, quizzes, a children's areas and an arts and crafts fair. The heritage walks and campfire readings have emerged as signature experiences of the event.
The festival is supported by 260 public libraries across the hill district, with representatives from various sections comprising its organising committee. Tickets are now available on the festival's website.
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