Delhi events in September

Aashish Solanki's solo set feels like someone narrating their life while slowly realising how ridiculous it all is. A former maths teacher, Solanki brings a sense of structure to his storytelling, but don't mistake that for anything rigid. The set moves through first love, fatherhood, gym-life delusions and family dynamics, all filtered through his dry, observational humour.

Solanki is an Indian stand-up comedian and writer known for his sharp take on relationships, social behaviour, pop culture and the absurdities of everyday life. He rose to wider recognition through India's contemporary stand-up circuit, particularly after appearing on comedy talent show: Comicstaan. His sets, if you ask us, rely less on elaborate theatrics and more on clever writing, precise observations and an understated delivery.

When: September 27, 4pm
Where: Kamani Auditorium
Tickets: ₹700

Virasat is a hyperrealist staging of Mahesh Elkunchwar's iconic Wada trilogy. This show is Delhi's big-ticket theatrical offering this September. Move over, tortured antiheroes and cinematic saviours – the lead role here belongs to time. Directed by Anuradha Kapur and presented by the Kiran Nadar Museum of Art (KNMA), the production traces the rise and gradual unravelling of the Deshpande family of Dharangaon across multiple generations.

At its heart, Virasat follows a once-thriving household struggling to keep pace with a country changing faster than it can adapt. Widely regarded as one of India's most important playwrights, Elkunchwar documents this slow collapse with restraint.

Don't expect dramatic entrances, thunderous speeches or a straightforward redemption arc. Instead, the play finds its drama in ordinary people going about their daily routines, cooking, cleaning and negotiating the complexities of family life. Memory, inheritance and the uncomfortable realities of change sit at the heart of this production.

When: September 24-27, 7pm
Where: Sunder Nursery
Tickets: ₹400 onwards

If Mohammed Rafi's timeless melodies still have a special place in your playlist, this one's for you. Carvaan Live: Magic of Rafi celebrates the legendary voice of Hindi cinema with beloved classics such as Abhi Na Jao Chhod Kar and Kya Hua Tera Wada. The intimate live concert brings together live vocals, rich instrumentation, sing-along moments, audience interaction and a quiz-style segment.

The performance takes place at The Dome, Ambassador New Delhi, a historic venue built in 1946 and known for its British colonial architecture, Art Deco details and soaring 50-foot ceiling. The ensemble features Vivek Budgali on vocals, Saurabh Verma on keyboard, Khurram Ali Niazi on tabla and Raghav Chandra on violin. Expect an evening of Hindi music spanning Bollywood, retro and tribute repertoire. Running for approximately an hour and 20 minutes, it's a good pick for a nostalgic evening out with friends.

When: September 6, 5.15pm
Where: The Dome, Ambassador New Delhi
Tickets: ₹1,799

Long before Baroda became synonymous with Indian modern art, K.G. Subramanyan was already pointing to Gujarat’s outsized role in shaping the country’s cultural landscape. There was just one thing missing: an art school. So when the Faculty of Fine Arts at Maharaja Sayajirao University was founded in 1950, it had a rare opportunity to start from scratch. This exhibition traces how that experiment unfolded, and how its ripples travelled far beyond.

Expect a lively mix of paintings, sculptures, mixed-media works, prints and photographs, alongside archival material from the DAG collection. Together, they offer both the big picture and the behind-the-scenes story: the school’s teaching, friendships, debates and everyday shenanigans that made Baroda such a creative hotbed.

Some artists pushed the possibilities of material and form. Others developed abstract languages shaped by surface, landscape and place. Still others turned to figuration, bringing together the intensely personal and the unapologetically political.

When: August 22 to October 24, 2026, 11am to 7pm

Where: 22A Windsor Place, Janpath, New Delhi

Tickets: Free

Bikaner House throws open its doors this September for the ninth edition of Delhi Contemporary Art Week. Six of the capital's leading women-led galleries come together under one roof – Blueprint 12, Exhibit 320, Gallery Espace, Latitude 28, Shrine Empire, and Vadehra Art Gallery. This year, the curation turns toward the monsoon and the shifting climates it brings, using the season as a lens for questions around ecology, memory, identity and belonging. Two curatorial exhibitions anchor the programme: one by Adwait Singh, the other by Annalisa Mansukhani, each threading its own path through the overarching theme while leaving room for the galleries' individual identities to come through. 
There’ll be a wide spread of practices and mediums (painting, sculpture, photography, and more conceptual, research-driven work) pulled from across India and the broader South Asian region. It's a solid pick whether you're a regular gallery-hopper or just someone looking to spend an afternoon around serious, thoughtful work – and with free entry, there's little reason not to wander through even if contemporary art isn't usually your first stop on a weekend.

When: August 31-September 5 

Where: Bikaner House, New Delhi 

Price: Free entry

What happens when a writer, a burger joint and a room full of adults decide to make something gloriously imperfect by hand? Making Non Sense, an art workshop curated by Vaishnavi under her studio Bhaavanusaar and facilitated by curator, writer and cultural strategist Gautami Reddy, invites you to ditch your Very Serious Person persona for an evening. Expect drawing, venting, comics, silly stories and perhaps even a tiny zine. The core idea is that in a world where AI can churn out polished work in seconds, make something messy, wobbly and unapologetically human instead.

When: September 18, 5–7pm

Where: AKU’s – The Burger Co., Basant Lok, Vasant Vihar

Consider this your cue to swap yet another dinner-and-drinks plan for ten days of big stories, bold performances and plenty to talk about afterwards.

The IHC stage is set for another round of drama... the good kind. The India Habitat Centre (IHC) Theatre Festival returns this year, taking over its grand Stein Auditorium. Supported by the National School of Drama and Sikkim Repertory Company, this year’s festival brings together 12 critically acclaimed contemporary productions across four languages: Hindi, English, Tamil and Punjabi.

IHC already keeps its theatre calendar busy through the year. But the annual festival is when things get a little more ambitious, bringing a whole bunch of theatrical worlds under one roof, with different languages, forms, ideas, aesthetics and perspectives, all in one packed programme.

And that’s precisely the point. As Prof KG Suresh, director of IHC, puts it, the space has spent years building a reputation for presenting theatre, cinema and talks that is gloriously varied. From established practitioners to newer voices, and from different theatrical forms and sensibilities to stories that refuse to sit neatly in one box.

When: September 18 to 27, 2026, multiple slots

Where: India Habitat Centre, Lodhi Colony, Delhi 

Tickets: ₹200-₹500

This is India through Thomas and William Daniell’s eyes. The exhibition might be a bit colonial in its perspective, but hey, gorgeous scenery is gorgeous scenery. The uncle-and-nephew Daniell duo travelled extensively across India, sketching everything from grand architecture to sweeping landscapes. Back in Britain, they turned those sketches into paintings, drawings and, most famously, a monumental series of aquatint prints. Their work was finally published in pairs between March 1795 and December 1808 as Oriental Scenery.  This one is the single largest and most ambitious project by English artists to depict India’s architecture and landscape. For the truly committed collector, the full set is a serious flex: 144 prints, arranged into six volumes of 24 each. This exhibition just brings together half of that spectacular haul.

The prints are arranged geographically, beginning in Calcutta and heading west across the Gangetic plain to Delhi. From there, it’s uphill into the Garhwal mountains, before doubling back through Lucknow to Calcutta. Next stop: Madras, from where the Daniells make a sweeping loop through what is now Tamil Nadu. Finally, we arrive in Bombay and head into western India to explore its extraordinary rock-cut temples.

When: September 13-24, 11am to 7pm  

Where: Bikaner House, Pandora Road, Delhi

Tickets: Free

After a short break, one of Delhi's most-loved craft bazaars is back. Dastkar's Nature Mela returns with a new theme for the month. September’s theme is ‘Phool aur patti’ (flowers and leaves). The show brings together over 90 artisans and craft collectives from across India. Whether you're hunting for a statement pashmina shawl or just planning a leisurely browse, this shopping stop is worth pencilling into your calendar. And here's a bonus! Your pet companion's welcome too, provided they're on a leash.

The showcase will include traditional and contemporary crafts from across the whole country: khadi and handloom textiles, intricate embroidery, crochet, ceramics, paintings, upcycled creations, brassware, tribal copper jewellery, lac bangles and bamboo furnishings. The list is literally inextinguishable. You might even walk away with a Yak wool sweater imported from Ladakh. But the mela isn't just about shopping. A food court serving authentic regional dishes and traditional beverages from across India will keep you fueled while browsing.

When: September 10 to 21, 11am-8pm

Where: Nature Bazaar venue, Anuvrat Marg, Kisan Haat Andheria Modh, Desu Colony, Chhattarpur, New Delhi, Delhi 110074

Tickets: ₹50 per person 

GIBF is big, loud and hoppy, just as frothy beer should be. And here, you've got more than 50 kinds - plus food, and music. You've got craft brews, IPAs, stouts, lagers, international labels and ciders. You’ll have ample room to taste, attend workshops, meet the brewers and generally get closer to the craft of beer-making.

If you’re someone who only aims higher, get yourself enrolled in the Beer Olympics Zone battle. And remember, it’s beer, and it’s Delhi; things are bound to get painfully competitive. Also expect games like beer pong (obviously), beer bottle ring toss and Flip Cup, short trivia contests here and there, blind beer tasting, and a relay challenge. The Beer Garden is worth exploring too, a laid-back space to sip and socialise. Bonus: there’s speed dating.

When: September 26, 12.30 pm onwards
Where: NSIC Exhibition grounds, Delhi 
Tickets: ₹1,999 onwards

Kaisi Ho takes aim at the everyday absurdities of love, marriage and being an Indian man navigating both, delivered with the kind of deadpan, unbothered charm that's made Maheep a name to watch out for on Delhi's comedy circuit. The set leans freestyle, less scripted than conversational, which gives it a looseness that rehearsed hour-long specials often lack. There's an edge to it too: outrageously witty in places, occasionally cheeky, with the odd cuss word thrown in purely for comic rhythm rather than shock value or jabs at anyone in the room. 

It's the kind of humour that rewards an audience who's been married a while, or watched their parents navigate it, or is simply curious about the mundane, unglamorous realities that make up most long-term relationships. Singh's strength lies in mining the ordinary. If you're after a night that's funny without being try-hard, this is a solid Friday night, especially if you're dragging along someone who needs convincing that comedy nights are already edgy enough. 

When: September 4, 7pm 

Where: The Laugh Store, DLF Cyberhub, Gurugram 

Price: ₹599 onwards

Two years after its last Delhi outing, ONNO's back to Delhi. The multidisciplinary record label and experimental music platform returns with the fourth edition of Sonic Distortions, a live showcase bringing together six contemporary acts that refuse to stay in one sonic lane. Expect everything from hip-hop and Hindustani neoclassical to shoegaze, left-field electronics and experimental sound.

Basically, if predictable playlists are your enemy, you’re in the right place. On the lineup is Shauharty + Medicatedmints (emcee + DJ set), Breaking x Psychopanda (modular synth B2B), Fakeer (live debut), Somnium Monkey, pause.dxa and Amenn Wihaan.

Supported by Greater Than Gin, the evening promises a genre-hopping run through some of India’s more adventurous contemporary sounds. Founded in 2021, ONNO has expanded into releases, live showcases and audiovisual projects with 60 artists to date. Come for the genre collisions. Stay for the sonic chaos.

When: September 13, 5pm

Where: Method Delhi, Defence Colony

Tickets: ₹500 per person 

Forget the idea that art-making needs a studio or even a plan. The Big Aaaaart Club is exactly what it sounds like. It’s an open-air gathering for anyone who likes getting their hands into something creative, no portfolio required. Sketchbooks, paints, half-finished doodles and fully-formed ideas are all welcome in equal measure, we hear.

There's no curriculum here. Show up to sketch a stranger's dog, paint badly on purpose, or just sit in the grass and talk shop with Delhi's wider creative crowd, which is everyone from illustrators and hobbyists to  people who haven't picked up a pencil since school. The club's whole appeal lies in low stakes and good company, less ‘workshop,’ more ‘park hangout that happens to involve glitter and charcoal. Come with material, or don't. Someone nearby is bound to have a spare brush.

When: September 27, 4-7pm
Where: Priya Park, Vasant Vihar (exact location will be shared on registration)
Price: Free entry, RSVP via @the.art.curry on Instagram

Delhi's love affair with momos has never been a secret. This September, it's getting a major upgrade at INJA. The restaurant is hosting Kolkata's celebrated Momo Queen, aka Chef Doma Wang, for her first-ever pop-up in the capital.This one-day collaboration brings together two distinct culinary worlds. Chef Doma, known for preserving and championing Himalayan cuisine, joins forces with Chef Adwait, the mind behind INJA's award-winning Indo-Japanese menu.

Expect hand-rolled dumplings and comforting broths. The specially curated menu explores the intersection of regional cooking and precision-driven techniques. One day, two celebrated chefs and a kickass menu? We'd suggest booking that table sooner rather than later.

When: September 5

Where: INJA, New Delhi

Tickets: ₹2,000 onwards

The Yamuna is finally getting the legit spotlight that it deserves with the seventh edition of Nadi Utsav. The three day event is bringing together environmentalists, artists, researchers and river enthusiasts for a celebration centred around rivers (translation of the word ‘Nadi’). Expect panel discussions, cultural performances, storytelling sessions and conversations on river ecology. Before you think it's an event for geeks, the festival has a film and photo exhibition corner too. 

Frankly, living in Delhi itself calls for a little more attention towards its sprawling urban jungles and water bodies. The festival explores how the river is deeply woven into Delhi’s history, culture, food systems and everyday lives. 

When:  September 24-26

Where: IGNCA, Janpath Building, Janpath, New Delhi

Ticket: Entry free

If your fitness goals have started collecting dust, here's your cue to lace up. Led by fitness icon Milind Soman, this half marathon is coming to Noida. And its every stride contributes to a larger cause: fighting hunger.

Whether you're a seasoned runner or someone who's only recently graduated from evening walks, there's a category for each of you. The race begins with a 3km stretch and goes all the way up to the standard 21km half-marathon distance. A portion of every registration fee will be directed towards providing meals to those in need, turning every kilometre into an act of giving.

Fair warning: the 5am start time might be the toughest hurdle of this event!

When: September 27, 5am

Where: JBM Global School, Noida

Tickets: ₹650

Long before the India International Coffee Festival properly kicks off in Bengaluru come February 2027, its road to the main stage runs straight through Delhi this September. The capital is one of three cities, alongside Mumbai and Bengaluru, hosting the regional prelims for India's national coffee championships, presented by the Speciality Coffee Association of India in partnership with the Coffee Board of India. 

These qualifiers exist to whittle down the country's best coffee professionals into a shortlist worthy of the National Finals, and after a strong showing at the last Delhi edition, this year's turnout is expected to be even more competitive. 

The action unfolds across four days, each with its own discipline in the spotlight. September 4 and 5 belong to the National Barista Championship prelims, sponsored by Kaapi Solutions, where competitors go head-to-head on technique, consistency and presentation. September 6 shifts focus to the National Brewers' Cup, a quieter but no less demanding contest built around precision manual brewing methods rather than showmanship. Then on September 7, things get visual with the National Latte Art Championship prelims, sponsored by Kaapi Machines, where espresso, steamed milk and a competitor's imagination collide on the cup's surface. Leading roasters, coffee brands and equipment makers will set up shop for the duration. It's quite an immersion – worthwhile for professionals scouting talent, home brewers looking to geek out over gear, or anyone simply curious about what serious specialty coffee culture looks like up close… I’m pretty sure that’s a lot of South Delhi.

When: September 4-7 

Where: Nexus Select Citywalk, Delhi

Delhi's own duet, Purple Cassette, is hitting the road for a nationwide tour. The Delhi-based garage-rock/post-punk band is known for its energetic live gigs. And with the release of its new single, Waiting on Nothing, the band is ready to take its sound to a wider audience and onto more diverse stages.

The tour takes the band through four cities before wrapping up with a hometown gig in Delhi. For a band rooted in the city's independent live-music scene, the capital remains an essential stop, of course. You’ve got raw guitars, driving rhythms and the restless energy that defines Purple Cassette's sound.

When: September 4, 9pm
Where: Soho Club Delhi, The Ashok Hotel, Chanakyapuri, New Delhi
Tickets: ₹500

Known for his high-energy sets and distinctive sound, Mexican DJ and producer Mandragora is bringing his psychedelic electronic sound to the capital this September. An anticipated stop on his tour, the Delhi show is set to bring his signature Futureprog sound to the dancefloor.

For Mandragora, it's better to arrive early and stay late. Expect psychedelic grooves, progressive electronic sounds and a hypnotic mix of driving beats, atmospheric textures and dancefloor-ready rhythms. His music has taken him to festivals and dancefloors across Europe, the Americas and Australia, while his evolving sound incorporates elements of psytrance, house, tech house and minimal. Recent releases such as Jugo de Diamantes also reveal a more melodic, Latin-leaning side of his music.

When: September 10, 9pm
Where: Soho Club Delhi
Tickets: ₹2,000

The Piano Man calls Ankur Tewari a ‘versatile wordsmith’. Not an inaccurate description, considering his work as a singer-songwriter, poet, award-winning lyricist, entrepreneur and music supervisor. From Gehraiyaan and I Wanna See You Dance to Jeene Mein Aye Maza, Tewari's lyrical sensibility has travelled across independent music and Hindi cinema.

Catch him live with the band as he tours his new nine-track album, Mr Faarigh. The show takes place at The Piano Man itself, one of Delhi's much-loved live-music venues. Tewari's music often draws from love, longing, travel and the small emotional details of everyday life, giving his songs a warm, personal quality. His work with The Ghalat Family has also earned a following for its stripped-back performances and poetic storytelling.

When: September 4, 5pm
Where: The Piano Man, Eldeco
Tickets: ₹1,500

Spend an evening looking into dance rather than simply at it. Dance with Space is a lecture-demonstration by eminent Bharatanatyam artist Malavika Sarukkai that explores the artistic and creative choices behind the way dance is imagined, created and experienced. The format offers audiences a closer look at how ideas, space, movement and storytelling come together to shape the art form.

Sarukkai is a celebrated Bharatanatyam dancer and choreographer known for her distinctive approach to classical Indian dance. Her work combines movement, rhythm, space and storytelling to explore classical themes as well as broader human experiences. Over the course of her career, she has performed extensively in India and internationally, often moving beyond the conventional recital format to present dance as a dynamic artistic language.

For this performance, Sarukkai will be joined by Neela Sukhanya on nattuvangam, Krithika Aravind on vocals, Nellai Balaji on mridangam and Venkat Subramaniam on violin, with lighting designed by Sharad Kulshreshta.

When: September 10, 6.30pm
Where: C.D. Deshmukh Auditorium, India International Centre
Tickets: Entry free