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There’s a case to be made for the fact that South Side Story is simultaneously one of Delhi’s biggest and somehow also most underrated festivals. And now it’s back for the eighth year in a row, and expanding to two more cities.
The RED FM-run festival began as a Delhi-only, music-led evening, boomeranging between genres like no one’s business in Malayali sounds. It’s since ballooned into a full-blown cultural takeover, complete with a Sadhya feast and art installations, approved of by more or less every Malayali I know in the capital. This year, it’ll run in Delhi on August 29-30 this year at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium, and, in a first, make its Pune debut on August 22 at Messe Global, Laxmi Lawns. Months later, it lands in South India’s own Bengaluru for the first time as well, on November 28 at Bhartiya Mall Of Bengaluru.
The line-ups
The Delhi line-up leans hard with the range: Padma Bhushan awardee Shobana, a repeat performer, headlines alongside Thaikkudam Bridge, whose genre-blurring live sets remain a festival mainstay. The Raghu Dixit Project, playback stalwart Karthik, and Sooraj Santhosh round out the more familiar names, while Masala Coffee, Arya Dhayal, Baby Jean, and Aksomaniac (a Malayalam hip-hop artist making his South Side Story debut) will be more of a pivot.
Pune's debut is naturally a tighter curation. Five acts across a single day: Shobana, Karthik, The Raghu Dixit Project, Kerala rock veterans Avial, and Kochi-based Tribemama Marykali (aka Anna Katharina Valayil), whose Afro-funk-inflected, feminist indie sound is arguably the most interesting programming choice on either city's roster.
Bengaluru also will have Shobana, Sanjith Hegde, Asal Kolaar and Aksomaniac.
The food
Available at the Delhi edition only, the Sadhya is a ticketed, sit-down traditional feast experience separate from general festival entry. It runs across the event days at ₹899 a head, in half-hour slots. Sadhyas are traditional feasts plated on a banana leaf for an occasion.
Details at a glance
Tickets for all three editions can be booked here.
Delhi
Where: KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium
When: August 29-30, noon onwards
Tickets: ₹899-₹6199.
Pune
Where: Messe Global Laxmi Lawns
When: August 22, 2pm onwards
Tickets: ₹499-₹3999.
Bengaluru
Where: Bhartya Mall of Bengaluru
When: November 28
Tickets: ₹499