Best of all, the festival will host the 5K Reading Marathon – “Together We Read, Together We Lead” – the flagship event of Shiksha Saptah 2026.
The third edition of the Chinar Book Festival will take place in Srinagar 8 through 26 July. Organised by the National Book Trust (NBT), India, in collaboration with the District Administration Srinagar and the National Council for Promotion of Urdu Language (NCPUL), the nine-day event has rapidly established itself as a landmark fixture in India’s regional literary calendar.
The festival’s growth trajectory is notable. Its inaugural edition in August 2024 drew over 125,000 visitors across nine days and featured more than 100 creative, literary and cultural events. The Deputy Commissioner of Srinagar declared it a permanent “calendar event” following that success.
The second edition, held 2 – 10 August 2025, was inaugurated by Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan, who urged NBT to establish a parallel Jammu edition and develop the festival into a sustained reading movement across the union territory.
What Publishers Can Expect
More than 200 publishers and booksellers will participate in the 2026 edition, showcasing thousands of titles across English, Hindi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Gojri, Dogri and other Indian languages. The festival offers publishers direct access to an engaged regional readership and a platform to present multilingual lists in a market where demand for vernacular and bilingual content is expanding.
The programme includes literary discussions, author interactions, book launches, workshops, storytelling sessions and cultural performances.
New Releases and Collaborative Projects
A significant publishing highlight will be the release of 24 bilingual books produced through the Gojri Translation Workshop held during the 2025 festival. The translations will be available in Hindi, Urdu, Dogri, Kashmiri and English. Additionally, books developed under the Rajtarangini Samvad initiative – launched in 2025 to preserve and promote Kashmir’s literary heritage -will be unveiled.
The View From The Beach
The 2026 programme spans journalism, storytelling, Urdu language and Kashmiriyat, multilingual education under India’s National Education Policy, public policy, women’s leadership, youth and nation-building, Urdu cinema, traditional crafts, fashion and environmental sustainability.
A dedicated Children’s Corner will offer storytelling, creative workshops and interactive activities. A Digital Reading Corner will showcase technology-driven initiatives including the Rashtriya e-Pustakalaya platform.
Best of all, the festival will host the 5K Reading Marathon – “Together We Read, Together We Lead” – the flagship event of Shiksha Saptah 2026.
Organisers aim to secure entries in the India Book of Records and Asia Book of Records by gathering thousands of schoolchildren for a reading-and-activity event on the streets of Srinagar. Wish I could be there for that!
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
