The 16th Annual Indian Summer Festival returns from July 9 to 19 at various venues throughout Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey.
The celebration of South Asian arts brings together more than 90 Canadian and international artists presenting a varied program that includes comedy, live music, theatre, literature, and interdisciplinary exchange. Curated by Indian Summer Festival Executive Artistic Director Am Johal, the festival’s 2026 theme Ragas for a Ruptured World is a call to artistic expression, creative defiance, and collective meaning in an increasingly fractured world.
“We are currently living through a moment of profound upheaval—politically, spiritually, collectively,” says Johal. “Art is not a luxury in times like these; it offers a vital lifeline for new openings and potent solidarities. Our festival theme of Ragas for a Ruptured World is an invitation for artists to improvise and think otherwise to the closures of thought on offer today.”
The festival opens July 9th with the first of two mainstage performances at the Vancouver Playhouse; the Vancouver debut of razor-sharp Sri Lankan comedian Vidura Bandara Rajapaksamaking a stop on his international tour Paradise Gothic Tour. July 11th, also at Vancouver Playhouse, Indian singer and composer Rashmeet Kaur, on her first-ever North American tour, will perform her genre-defying blend of folk, Sufi, hip-hop, and R&B.
Other festival highlights include an evening in conversation with Academy Award-nominated filmmaker, writer, and activist Julian Brave NoiseCat at Waterfront Theatre; a special presentation with Vancouver’s own Tarun Nayar of Modern Biology, who will transform plant bioelectricity into live, improvised sound amongst the lush surroundings of VanDusen Botanical Garden; a literary exchange between authors Sonora Jha and Minelle Mahtani; a world premiere solo performance from celebrated actor and playwright Anita Majumdar; and a special comedy performance from one of the year’s youngest internationally touring comedians, Abby Govindan.
“Our 2026 festival theme Ragas for a Ruptured World is an assertion, actually. A proposal of where art can live, and what kind of creative expression demands attention in the zeitgeist as we collectively navigate global political and ecological crises,” says Laura June Albert, Executive Managing Director. “As a festival at the intersection of art and ideas, we actively position both discursive and aesthetic practices as critical in resourcing us forward.”
Indian Summer Festival 2026 also delivers a variety of free programming including the Gong Library,an immersive collection of gongs, chimes, and other instruments from around the world at Ocean Artworks Pavilion; two video works (Inclination and Forgiveness) by Farheen Haq, co-presented by Grunt Gallery at its Mt. Pleasant Community Art Screen (intersection at Kingsway and W Broadway); the interdisciplinary exhibition Keerat Kaur: If Gardens Could Dream at the Surrey Art Gallery; Apna Mela, a joyful, intergenerational event taking over Surrey’s Strawberry Hill Park, produced by Gen Connect; and a closing event featuring poetry and live music called Rishta, in the heart of Vancouver’s Punjabi Market, curated by Ruby Singh.
Ticketed events in the 2026 Indian Summer Festival Lineup include:
July 9: 7pm at Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton Street)
Opening Night!: Vidura Bandara Rajapaksa co-presented with PuSh Festival
July 10: 7pmat Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St)
Julian Brave NoiseCat: We Survived the Night
July 11: 7pm at Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St)
Sacred Sounds, New Worlds: Rashmeet Kaur
July 12: 12pm, 3pm & 6pm at Ocean Artworks Pavilion (1531 Johnston St)
Tiffin Talks:
2026 Tiffin Talks dialogue series include:
- Reclaiming the Bloom: Pattern, Myth, and the Feminine moderated by artists Jas Lally, Keerat Kaur, and Manjot Kaur (12pm)
- Grammars of Return with guests Farheen Haq and Renisa Mawani, moderated by Jasbir K. Puar (3pm)
- Inherited Forms, Reimagined Futures with a work-in-progress performance by Sasha Ashwini, followed by dialogue with Tasha Faye Evans and Sujit Vaidya (6pm)
July 13: 7pm at VanDusen Botanical Garden (5251 Oak St)
Special Presentation: An Evening with Modern Biology
July 15: 8pm at The Rio Theatre (1660 East Broadway)
Pushing 30: Featuring Abby Govindan
July 15: 8pm, July 16: 7pm, July 17: 7 & 9pm, July 18: 7 & 9pm at The Fishbowl (100-1398 Cartwright St)
Why We Work Out, co-presented with Boca del Lupo
July 16: 6pm at Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St)
Intemperance: Sonora Jha in Conversation with Minelle Mahtani
July 16: 8:30pm at Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright St)
IGNITE! Emerging Artists Showcase featuring Arthur Flowers
July 17: 5pm at Ocean Artworks Pavilion (1531 Johnston St, Vancouver)
Imaginal Airlines
July 17: 7:30pm at Surrey Arts Centre (13750 88 Avenue, Surrey)
Ragas Reimagined
July 18: 3pm at Lobe Studio (713 E Hastings St, Vancouver)
HYDRONE
July 18 at 8pm at the Ismaili Centre Vancouver (4010 Canada Way, Burnaby)
Strings of Solace: Mohamed Assani Quartet
The 16th Annual Indian Summer Festival runs from July 9 to 19, 2026 at various venues throughout Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey. Visit indiansummerfest.ca for tickets and full programming details, including free programming.