July 9 -19, 2026

ragas for a ruptured world

2026 CURATORIAL THEME

Ushering in an era of deepening planetary entanglement is the intense, incoming horizon of a haunting perishability. The combustive forces of life and death colliding without mediation. How to suture the wounds that bind us?

We cannot overwrite the inertias and hangovers of the general, everyday corruption of an unravelling system. All the parables left unsaid. Everybody knows the dice are loaded.

This year's festival conspires to rekindle dormant solidarities when we live in a time of fire and flood, flesh and blood - enmity as a feature, not a bug.

Indian Summer Festival 2026 proposes to momentarily call for a reprieve to this abyssal atmosphere and reconfigure an improvisation of intensification, rhythmic intervention and bodily response. We conspire towards a jovial, garrulous puncturing of the claustrophobic loop we unconsciously inhabit.

Of this we are certain: there remains a necessity for sacred and mysterious lullabies. A poetic investigation as a prelude to assembling a durable ruckus. The space and time for the conjuring of new mythologies. Reinventing the outlines of a grammar for a world we desire.

We will honour our commitment to retain the courage of a clown and hold the line on the sanctity of creative irascibility.

In this time of monsters, come as you are. Build your mafia.

Come for the kulfi, stay for the tamasha.

2026 festival program

OPENING NIGHT!: VIDURA BANDARA RAJAPAKSA

Thursday, July 9th, 2026
Vancouver Playhouse

DOORS: 6:00pm | SHOW: 7:00pm
Kick off our 2026 Festival with comedian Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa in his Vancouver debut with Paradise Gothic, a sharp new hour exploring immigration, modern spirituality, and the absurdities of trying to stay human.

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JULIAN BRAVE NOISECAT: WE SURVIVED THE NIGHT

Friday, July 10th, 2026
Waterfront Theatre

DOORS: 6:30pm | SHOW: 7:00pm
Join acclaimed writer and filmmaker Julian Brave Noisecat in conversation with Indian Summer Festival’s Executive Artistic Director Am Johal, as they discuss Noisecat’s bestselling debut book We Survived the Night.

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Sacred Sounds, New Worlds: RASHMEET KAUR

Saturday, July 11th, 2026
Vancouver Playhouse
DOORS: 6:00pm | SHOW: 7:00pm

Journey through a musical reimagining of classical and contemporary South Asian expression starring Rashmeet Kaur in her Vancouver debut, featuring Asad Khan’s Sammah Project opening the night.

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TIFFIN TALKS

Sunday, July 12th, 2026
Ocean Artworks Pavilion
THREE TALKS FROM:
12:00pm - 2:00pm
3:00pm - 5:00pm
6:00pm - 8:00pm
Tiffin Talks is a dialogue series that brings together diverse thought leaders, artists, innovators, and change makers across disciplines. Panelists gather to exchange knowledge, share projects and ideas, then join the audience for a warm, nourishing meal.

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Special Presentation: An Evening with Modern Biology

Monday, July 13th, 2026
VanDusen Botanical Garden

DOORS: 6:00pm | SHOW: 7:00pm

Set against the lush, contemplative landscape of VanDusen Botanical Garden, Modern Biology’s special open air offering for Indian Summer Festival 2026 will unfold as an immersive meditation on sound, ecology, rupture and possibility.

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Pushing 30: Featuring Abby Govindan

Wednesday, July 15th, 2026
The Rio Theatre
DOORS: 7:00pm | SHOW: 8:00pm

Join the Indian Summer Festival at the legendary Rio Theatre for a gut-busting night of laughter from two breakout comedians. Pushing 30 is Abby Govindan’s internationally touring, hour-long special exploring aging, dating, and breaking generational curses.

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Why We Work Out

Wednesday, July 15th - Saturday, July 18th, 2026
The Fishbowl

Multiple showings
Why We Work Out invites the audience into the ways in which Anita Majumdar’s embodied relationship with exercise has become entwined with major events in her life.

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Intemperance: Sonora Jha in conversation with Minelle Mahtani

Thursday, July 16th, 2026
Waterfront Theatre
DOORS: 5:30pm | SHOW: 6:00pm

Acclaimed novelist, professor and essayist Sonora Jha brings her electrifying new novel Intemperance to the Indian Summer Festival. In conversation with award-winning author Minelle Mahtani, Jha will delve into the novel’s provocations and its urgent questions.

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Ragas Reimagined

Friday, July 17th, 2026
Surrey Arts Centre
DOORS: 6:30pm | SHOW: 7:30pm

Ragas Reimagined brings together two boundary-pushing ensembles: the newly founded, instantly unforgettable Raga Echoes and the Juno-nominated, critically acclaimed Raagaverse with special guest Cassius Khan. These two groups join forces at Surrey Arts Centre to bring Indian Summer Festival 2026’s curatorial theme, Ragas for a Ruptured World, to life.

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