The idea
Culture should be close to home.
A child should be able to discover a live concert, a sitar performance, poetry or theatre without first having to travel to a city. Yet large cultural events rarely reach rural audiences. For many families, that shared experience remains out of reach.
The Dehati Foundation is planning The Dehati Fest for villages, farmers, families, children, young people and local artists, beginning with Sehore and the Malwa region of Madhya Pradesh. The aim is to bring a thoughtfully produced cultural gathering to the communities that have fewer opportunities to experience one.
For the next generation
Before a passion, a first experience.
It is hard to become curious about an art form you have never encountered. Many rural children have had few opportunities to hear an instrument played live or explore different forms of music, theatre, poetry, storytelling and visual art.
We want the festival to offer that first encounter: the sound of a new instrument, the energy of a performance, the possibility of making something yourself. Curiosity can be the beginning of a lasting interest, a skill or a future opportunity.
For the artists among us
Talent deserves to be heard where it begins.
Villages are home to singers, folk performers, musicians, poets and storytellers whose work may never reach a wider audience. Distance from a city should not determine whether an artist finds a stage.
Alongside the festival, a planned talent hunt will help discover emerging artists from the region. We hope to create opportunities for local performers to reach new audiences and, where possible, share a stage with established artists.
For all of us
Different journeys. One shared stage.
Migration for education and work has gradually changed our relationship with villages. People who move to cities can lose touch with the culture and everyday life of the communities they came from.
The Dehati Fest is intended as a meeting place. Urban audiences can reconnect with their roots, rural audiences can encounter new art forms, and artists can share their work across communities. Music, stories and conversation offer a reason to spend time together again.
Why your support matters
Help make a village stage possible.
During our search for sponsors, support was often conditional on taking the event to a city. But reaching rural communities is the reason for this initiative. Crowdfunding gives people who believe in that purpose a way to help it happen.
Contributions through the Foundation’s campaign page will help us work towards bringing artists, performances, equipment, production and talent discovery to rural audiences. Our hope is that this first festival can grow into a recurring platform for culture, local talent and connection.
Be part of what comes next
A small contribution.
A wider world of possibility.
Help bring art, music and shared cultural experiences closer to rural communities.
Donate nowCampaign organised by The Dehati Foundation. Visit the campaign fundraiser.