Rainbow Lit Fest 2025 Steps Into its Fifth Year As a Platform for Creative Queer Expression and Community Building

"We are living in a world today where spaces such as these are shrinking," says Sharif Rangnekar, founder and director of the Rainbow Lit Fest. "Just a space where you can have this sort of mix of programming—we just almost don't have that."

Rainbow Lit Fest returns for its fifth edition on December 6 and 7 at the Gulmohar Park Club in New Delhi. Over two stages spanning 45,000 square feet, the festival will present over 1,500 minutes of programming, featuring 80-plus speakers, seven films, two live music acts, dance performances, and drag.

Since its inception in December 2019, the festival has evolved considerably. "When we kicked off, we instinctively wanted variety," Rangnekar reflects. "But over the last three years post-COVID, we've become more conscious of it." This conscious approach to diversity has seen the festival platform over 250 speakers across its history, bringing together voices from locations as far-ranging as Moirang in northeast India to Vancouver in Canada.

This year's line-up reflects that commitment to breadth and depth. International writers from Norway, Canada, and Thailand join a stellar roster including actor Shahana Goswami, content creator and Instagram Rings Award winner Dolly Singh, podcaster and author Mohua Chinappa, Michelin Star Chef Suvir Saran, NCP spokesperson Anish Gawande, senior advocate Saurabh Kirpal, Itihasology founder Eric Chopra, award-winning journalist Nidhi Suresh, aromatherapist Blossom Kochhar, and fashion designer Akassh Agarwal. The festival will also feature noted author R Raj Rao, Thai queer artist Oat Montien, filmmaker Ayesha Sood, and activist Harish Iyer, amongst many others.

The programming addresses themes that reflect contemporary queer discourse whilst pushing conversations forward. A panel on kinkiness, curated by Jaya Sharma and Rituparna Bhora, sits alongside discussions on parenting, pleasure, aromas and sensuality, art and mental health, and legalities and hierarchies. Dhiran Borisa has helped curate a particularly innovative panel examining queerness and caste, moving beyond narratives of marginalisation to explore how caste-marginalised people bring queerness to the fore in challenging power hierarchies. There's even a session on Delhi's haunted 'queer monuments', adding a playful dimension to the festival's exploration of queer history and space.

Film remains a significant part of the festival's identity. This year's screenings include Queer Parivaar, The Lime Green Shirt starring Lilette Dubey, Tara (having its Delhi premiere), The Night Queen with Sheeba Chaddha, Hills Don't Dance Alone, Ghar, and the premiere of Anureet Watta's latest work. The Mariwala Health Institute is supporting post-screening conversations, flying in Dalit and trans filmmakers for discussions that promise to centre often-marginalised voices within queer cinema.

The festival's growth is perhaps most visible in the overwhelming community response. "There is a sense of ownership coming in from the community," Rangnekar observes. The numbers bear this out: 118 applications for stalls, from which 17 queer brands were selected; over 70 volunteer applications for just 18 positions; nearly 50 submissions for MC roles. Perhaps most tellingly, several speakers are self-funding their participation. "We have quite a few speakers who are spending from their pocket to cover the flight and come here," says Rangnekar. "It shows their intent of wanting to participate and help us sustain this and keep it alive."

The festival, produced by Excurators, brings together committed partners including Kunzum as bookstore partner, Excavator handling production, and a new collaboration with Yuvaa. The venue encompasses not just performance spaces but a bookstore, food court, bar, and a carefully curated queer bazaar featuring vendors including those with mental health backgrounds and people with disabilities.

Running from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on both days, programming is distributed across the main stage and courtyard. Both evenings close with live music performances—25K featuring John Oinam and The Aahvaan Project—whilst dance collective Sapphiceaters will perform and drag king Georgie takes the stage, marking a shift from the drag queens of previous editions.

"We have come to that point where we preferably should not be turning back," Rangnekar asserts. "Because when you create something, anything that you start enjoying and you feel at home, and that goes away, it can make you feel very hopeless—particularly when there is almost none of this around." It's a sentiment that captures both the festival's importance and its fragility, a space that exists because a community wills it into being, year after year.

The Rainbow Lit Fest will be held on December 6-7, with tickets priced at Rs. 499 per day or Rs. 899 for a full festival pass. A special 50% concession is offered to students and NGO professionals working in gender, sexuality, and queer rights.

The Rainbow Lit Fest is organised by the Dwijen Dinanath Arts Foundation, a Section 8 non-profit driven by founder Sharif D. Rangnekar’s support and contributions. The Foundation focuses on creating thoughtful, curated spaces around gender, sexuality, the arts, and independent music, drawing on history, literature, and contemporary conversations. The Festival champions inclusion, inviting varied identities and communities to meet, exchange, and build richer understandings of diversity.