Bengaluru Literature Festival will be held on December 6 and 7 at Freedom Park

The 14th edition of the Bengaluru Literature Festival (BLF) will be held on December 6 and 7, this time at Freedom Park.

This edition will have four stages- three children’s venues and a bookstore. It will feature close to 300 international, Indian and city authors and speakers.

Big names

Leading names at the festival are International Booker Prize winner Banu Mushtaq, British crime writer Clare Mackintosh, tech journalist and AI chronicler Karen Hao, American poet and novelist Kazim Ali, award-winning Australian playwright Julie Janson, author and MP Shashi Tharoor, author and chairperson of The Hindu Group Nirmala Lakshman, essayist and novelist Pankaj Mishra, bestselling writers Amish, Anand Neelakantan, Chetan Bhagat, and Shobhaa De, comedian and actor Vir Das, among others, the BLF said.

The festival will open at 9 a.m. with morning music on both days. Entry is free, open to all and registration is recommended, the BLF said.

Why different venue

V. Ravichandar, one of the organisers of the BLF, said that the shift in the venue was to ensure a community event was held in a public space.

“Moreover, the Freedom Park is in the heart of the city, close to metro stations and bus stands. It has ample paid parking for both two-wheelers and cars,” he said.

“From a site of silence and surveillance to one of community and expression, the Freedom Park stands as a symbol of Bengaluru’s past and present, reminding us that public spaces, like literature, reading and people, can transform and carry forward new meanings,” he further said.

The festival venue is an eight-minute walk from Sir M. Visveswaraya Station, Central College Metro (Purple Line) and the bus stop, and a 15-minute walk from the Nadaprabhu Kempegowda Station, Majestic Metro (Green Line) and the bus stop.