MBIFL 2026 to host live music evenings alongside literary sessions

The seventh edition of the Mathrubhumi International Festival of Letters (MBIFL) will be held from January 29 to February 1, 2026, at Kanakakkunnu Palace in Thiruvananthapuram. Alongside literary discussions and panel sessions, the festival will include live music evenings at Nishagandhi Auditorium.

The music programmes will take place over three nights starting at 7.30 pm and will feature a range of contemporary, folk and experimental performances. On January 30, playback singer Naresh Iyer will perform with guitarist-composer Vijay Ganesan, along with vocalists Srikant Hariharan and Aparna Harikumar. January 31 will see Kerala-based band Thakara present a folk-fusion set. The final evening on February 1 will feature Shanka Tribe, led by singer-songwriter Neha Nair, combining electronic and tribal influences.

MBIFL 2026 will host more than 400 Indian and international writers, readers and speakers, with sessions spanning fiction, poetry, politics, environment, cinema, science and technology. The theme for this edition is ‘Paradox of Pace’, with speakers expected from across five continents.

Speaking about the festival’s music programming, M V Shreyams Kumar, Festival chairman, managing director, Mathrubhumi Group, said: "MBIFL has always been about celebrating ideas and creativity. Our Live Musical Evenings are an extension of this vision—where music meets literature, and audiences experience culture in its most vibrant form.”

(afaqs! got this information in a press release)