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. 

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.

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

Come for the kulfi, stay for the tamasha.

2026 festival program

  • Two smiling men riding a moped, the front man is in a white jacket and pink shirt. The second man is in an orange jacket.

    Box Office Launch Party: A Special Screening of Sholay

    Friday, June 5th, 2026
    The Rio Theatre

    DOORS: 6:45pm | SHOW: 7:00pm

    Join us for Indian Summer Festival’s Box Office Launch Party! This special evening will include a one-time only screening of the iconic, genre-defining classic, Sholay (1975), starring Amitabh Bachchan and Dharmendra. 

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  • Man looking at the camera with his hand near his chin. He is in shadow

    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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  • Man looking at the camera. He has long dark hair and Square checkerboard earrings. He is wearing a vertically striped shirt with green, maroon, dark blue and purple

    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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  • Woman looking at the camera with her fingers intertwined and up near her chin. She has brown hair, a black jacket, red painted nails, and a gold bracelet.

    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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  • Three stainless steel tiffin containers are displayed on a table with a red tablecloth and a spoon.

    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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  • Drawing of a mythical style woman. She is blue with green vines coming from her finger tips. She has a fin and a ponytail.

    Reclaiming the Bloom: Pattern, Myth and the Feminine

    Sunday, July 12th, 2026
    Ocean Artworks Pavilion

    DOORS: 11:30am | TALK: 12:00pm

    In a Tiffin Talk moderated by Jas Lally, Keerat Kaur and Manjot Kaur reflect on their relationships with the natural world, and how they as artists work with floral imagery and botanical patterning as a form of reclamation.

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  • Words that are partially cut off in a poetic fashion.

    GRAMMARS OF RETURN

    Sunday, July 12th, 2026
    Ocean Artworks Pavilion

    DOORS: 2:30pm | TALK: 3:00pm

    How might we think of grammars of return through language, water, and intergenerational inheritances? Join Farheen Haq and Renisa Mawani in a Tiffin Talk moderated by Jasbir K. Puar, as they explore this question through art, ghazals, archives, and more.

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  • Woman with brown hair who is posing with her waist turned to the left. She is looking down towards the ground. Her arms are extended and her wrists are crossed. She is wearing a green shirt and green pants.

    Inherited Forms, Reimagined Futures

    Sunday, July 12th, 2026
    Ocean Artworks Pavilion

    DOORS: 5:30pm | TALK: 6:00pm

    In our evening Tiffin Talk, Sasha Ashwini presents an excerpt from her work-in-progress CROSSING DEEP WATERS, followed by a dialogue with Tasha Faye Evans and Sujit Vaidya, who consider how to interrogate inherited dance-making practices.

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  • Person kneeling on the ground and sitting on their feet. Hands are resting on top of thighs with right pointer finger pointing. Wearing white shirt and green pants.

    Farheen Haq: Inclination and Forgiveness

    July 9th - 31st, 2026
    Intersection of Broadway & Kingsway


    SUNDAY - THURSDAY: 9:00am - 10:00pm

    FRIDAY & SATURDAY: 9:00am - 11:00pm

    Indian Summer Festival and Grunt Gallery present two works by Farheen Haq: Inclination (2024) and Forgiveness (2022). The works are presented at Grunt Gallery’s Community Art Screen (Kingsway and W Broadway intersection), in Vancouver.

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  • Man staring at mushrooms he is holding. He is waring a black shirt with large yellow flowers.

    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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  • Man standing beside gong. He is facing away from the camera looking to the left. He has a moustache and short black hair. Wearing blue hat and grey shirt. The gong is black and is rusted at the centre.

    GONG LIBRARY

    July 13 - 19, 2026
    Ocean Artworks Pavilion


    WEEKDAYS: 12:00pm - 6:00pm | WEEKENDS: 1:00pm - 7:00pm

    The Gong Library is an immersive listening space featuring a curated collection of gongs, chimes, and other resonant instruments from around the world. Set amongst the filtered sunlight and gentle seabreeze of Ocean Artworks Pavilion, visitors are invited to enter freely and play the instruments themselves, or simply sit and rest within the custom soundscape woven through the space. The installation offers a rare opportunity to encounter these instruments directly, at your own pace.

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  • Woman smiling while looking to the left while holding a microphone. She had dark hair, glasses, and is wearing a striped sweater

    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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  • Woman looking up at ceiling with her arms raised over her shoulders. She is wearing a blue shirt

    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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  • Woman looking at camera and smiling. She has dark hair and is wearing a white blouse. She is holding her right hand up by her shoulder.

    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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  • A man in profile. He is wearing a wicker hat, glasses, and is wearing a dark jacket. He has a grey beard and is playing a small wind instrument

    IGNITE!

    Thursday, July 16th, 2026
    Waterfront Theatre

    DOORS: 8:00pm | SHOW: 8:30pm

    IGNITE! weaves together a dynamic assemblage of five emerging artists for an inspiring Pecha Kucha–style evening. Lightning round presentations explore how memory, migration or resistance shape contemporary diasporic artistic practices. Uplifting us through the evening is Arthur Flowers, Memphis-born storyteller, novelist and musician.

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  • Photo of clouds as seen from an airplane window

    Imaginal Airlines: Flight A108

    Friday, July 17th, 2026
    Ocean Artworks Pavilion

    DOORS: 5:00pm | SHOW: 5:30pm

    For one night only, the Gong Library transforms into the departure lounge for a site-specific, immersive performance of Imaginal Airlines' flagship Flight A108, a sonic experience through imaginal airspace. Performed live by the Imaginal Cells and a full airline crew, the experience is part concert, part active meditation, and part return-journey to the Self.

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  • Several different people posing together with a variety of musical instruments

    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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  • Man looking up to the sky with both his hands raised up to his shoulders. He is wearing a pink shirt with a

    HYDRONE

    Saturday, July 18, 2026
    Lobe Studio

    START: 3:00pm | END: 7:00pm

    HYDRONE is a transdisciplinary spatial audio installation by Ruby Singh exploring water as memory, force, and connective tissue. Presented through the 4DSOUND system at Lobe Studio, the work combines hydrophones, environmental recordings, modular synthesis, poetry, and climate data sonification to create an evolving sonic ecosystem that moves through elemental states of ice, river, rain, ocean, and mist.

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  • Large group of people clapping and hugging in celebration

    Apna Mela

    Saturday, July 18th, 2026
    Strawberry Hill Elementary Park


    START: 3:00pm | END: 7:00pm

    Apna Mela is a joyful, intergenerational event, taking over Surrey’s Strawberry Hill Park, bringing together youth, seniors, families, and community members for a day brimming with cultural pride, meaningful connection, and community spirit.

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  • Man smiling to the upper left of a room. He is holding a Sitar and wearing a beige kurta

    Strings of Solace: Mohamed Assani Quartet at Ismaili Centre Vancouver

    Saturday, July 18th, 2026
    The Ismaili Centre Vancouver

    DOORS: 7:30pm | SHOW: 8:00pm

    Led by Mohamed Assani, a two-time Western Canadian Music Award nominee for Instrumental Music, the Quartet delivers a genre-defying sound that blends diverse musical landscapes with authenticity and emotional depth. Set within the captivating design of Ismaili Centre Vancouver’s Social Hall, soak in the intentionally crafted domes, geometries, and calligraphies which inform the Islamic Architecture of the venue.

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  • Photo of black street sign for East 50th Avenue. It is encircled by a yellow sign that says Punjabi Market

    RISHTA

    Sunday, July 19, 2026
    Punjabi Market Plaza at Main & 50th

    START: 4:00pm | END: 7:00pm

    Step into a living archive of expression at Rishta, a vibrant, outdoor closing to the Indian Summer Festival in the heart of Punjabi Market, curated by Ruby Singh. Rishta invites audiences into an afternoon where poetry, qawwali, memory, and community entwine through sound and word.

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  • Drawing of a cross section heart with four flowers coming out of the sides. There is a small plant growing from the top. Lady bug flies at the lower half of the heart. The heart is full of pomegranate seeds

    KEERAT KAUR: IF GARDENS COULD DREAM

    July 4th, 2026 - August 30th, 2026
    Surrey Art Gallery

    This summer, Surrey Art Gallery, in community partnership with Indian Summer Festival and DIVERSEcity, presents If Gardens Could Dream, a solo exhibition by multidisciplinary artist Keerat Kaur, opening July 11 as part of the Gallery’s summer exhibition opening.

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