From the Bengal Biennale to Serendipity Arts Festival, here are five cultural events to add to your art and travel calendar this winter.
India’s art calendar is gearing up for an exciting season, with biennales, design exhibitions and multidisciplinary festivals bringing artists, architects, designers, curators and audiences together. From the historic lanes of Banaras to the heritage spaces of Delhi and the lively cultural landscape of Goa, these events offer a reason to travel beyond the usual tourist trail.
Whether you are an art enthusiast, a student, a practising artist or simply someone looking for a culturally rich getaway, these five festivals deserve a place on your winter itinerary.
1. Bengal Biennale 2026–27 | Kolkata and Santiniketan
Dates: 25 November 2026 – 2 January 2027
The second edition of the Bengal Biennale invites visitors to explore art across Kolkata and Santiniketan, bringing contemporary artistic practices into conversation with the region’s histories, communities and ecologies.
Titled Banalata, the edition draws inspiration from the figure in Jibanananda Das’s celebrated poem and the entangled world of wild forest vines. Curated by Chander Haat and Ritika Biswas, the biennale explores buried histories, interconnected lives and possibilities of collective resistance and joy.
With venues ranging from museums and cultural institutions to historic houses, studios and public spaces, the biennale offers an opportunity to experience art through the places and stories that shape it. Travelling between Kolkata and Santiniketan also makes for a rewarding cultural journey through Bengal’s artistic and literary heritage.
Why travel: For contemporary art, Bengal’s rich cultural history and an opportunity to discover exhibitions beyond conventional gallery spaces.
2. CII Banaras Biennale 2026 | Varanasi
Dates: 27 November – 31 December 2026
Few Indian cities offer a cultural landscape quite like Banaras. With its centuries-old traditions of music, textiles, craft, scholarship and spiritual practice, the city provides a compelling setting for the inaugural CII Banaras Biennale.
Themed Kashi / Light — The City as Sensorium, the biennale approaches Banaras as both a setting and a subject. Its programme brings visual art, textiles, craft, music, performance and public programming into dialogue with the city’s living heritage.
The idea is to move beyond viewing tradition as something frozen in the past and instead explore how cultural knowledge continues to evolve through contemporary artistic practices. Museums, archives, workshops and public spaces become sites for encounters between historical collections and new interpretations.
For travellers, this is an invitation to experience Banaras through more than its iconic ghats and temples — by exploring the creative practices, material histories and cultural networks that continue to define the city.
Why travel: To experience the intersection of contemporary art and living heritage in one of India’s most culturally layered cities.
3. Ardee Foundation Student Biennale | Delhi
The Ardee Foundation Student Biennale is an important addition to the conversation around emerging artists and arts education in India. With a focus on student practices, it creates space to engage with the ideas, experiments and perspectives shaping the next generation of artists.
Student-focused platforms are particularly valuable in a country where young practitioners are navigating questions of access, institutional support, professional opportunities and the transition from art school to independent practice. A biennale centred on students can offer audiences a glimpse into these concerns while opening up conversations around how art is taught, produced and experienced today.
For art students, young professionals and educators, the event presents an opportunity to engage with emerging practices and consider the future of art education in India.
Why travel: To discover new artistic voices and engage with the ideas and challenges shaping the next generation of Indian artists.
Note: Confirm the official dates, venue and programme before making travel arrangements.
4. India Art, Architecture & Design Biennale 2026 | Delhi
Dates: 4 December 2026 – 21 March 2027
Delhi will become an expansive cultural canvas for the second edition of the India Art, Architecture & Design Biennale, organised under the Ministry of Culture. Spanning four months, the event will connect heritage monuments, museums, institutions and public spaces through exhibitions, installations and multidisciplinary programming.
The 2026 theme, Tat Tvam Asi — You Are That: Reconnecting in an Age of Distraction, explores relationships between the self, society and the built and natural worlds. Through contemporary art, architecture, design, public art, workshops, performances and heritage walks, the biennale encourages visitors to reconsider how they inhabit and experience their surroundings.
The programme also includes a Student Biennale, alongside opportunities to encounter creative practices across disciplines. Rather than confining exhibitions to a single venue, the event opens up the city itself as a network of cultural experiences.
For visitors interested in architecture and design, this is an opportunity to see how historic sites can become active spaces for contemporary cultural expression.
Why travel: For a city-wide exploration of art, architecture, design and heritage — with plenty to discover beyond the conventional gallery circuit.
5. Serendipity Arts Festival 2026 | Panjim, Goa
Dates: 13–20 December 2026
If you prefer your art experiences to extend beyond gallery walls, the Serendipity Arts Festival is one to watch. Returning to Panjim for its eleventh edition, the multidisciplinary festival brings together artistic practices and audiences through a programme shaped by curatorial perspectives, experimentation and collaboration.
The festival spans disciplines including visual arts, music, dance, theatre, craft and food, creating opportunities to encounter art through performances, exhibitions, installations and public experiences. Its approach encourages connections between different forms of creative expression, making the festival accessible to both seasoned art audiences and curious first-time visitors.
Set against Goa’s distinctive architectural and cultural landscape, Serendipity offers an especially appealing way to explore the city through its public spaces and cultural venues. Visitors can plan their days around exhibitions and performances while leaving room to discover Panjim’s neighbourhoods, heritage buildings and local food culture.
Why travel: For a lively, multidisciplinary celebration of art and culture that combines a festival experience with a winter escape in Goa.
This winter, art offers a compelling reason to travel across India. Whether you are drawn to Bengal’s contemporary art scene, Banaras’s living traditions, Delhi’s intersection of heritage and design, or Goa’s multidisciplinary cultural programming, these festivals promise different ways of encountering art beyond the gallery.
For anyone interested in how India’s creative landscape is evolving, the season offers an opportunity not just to see new work, but to explore the cities, communities and conversations that give it meaning.
Featuring Image Courtesy: The Voice of Fashion
Minerva is a visual artist and currently serves as a sub editor at Abir Pothi.
