Guides
What we know, written down.
GIFLIF publishes working guides to India's festival landscape — music, film and literature festivals, and how to choose an event agency. They are written by the team that runs GIFLIF Fest and Indiestaan, and they name the other festivals honestly.
We run festivals, so we spend a lot of time explaining this landscape to brands, colleges and departments. These are those conversations, written down.
Music, literature, film and client production — our own photographs.
Lucky Ali
Indiestaan · Bhopal · ~8,000 people
Thaikkudam Bridge
Indiestaan · Bhopal
Bloodywood
Indiestaan · Bhopal
Ruskin Bond
Author · GIFLIF Fest
Javed Akhtar
Lyricist & screenwriter · GIFLIF Fest
Rahat Indori
Urdu poet · GIFLIF Fest
Adoor Gopalakrishnan
Filmmaker · GIFLIF Fest
Prakash Jha
Filmmaker · GIFLIF Fest
Saurabh Shukla
Actor · Barff · GIFLIF Fest
Gurdas Maan
Sounds of Punjab · Ravindra Bhawan, Bhopal · Sept 2025
Seedhe Maut
Pyrotechnics over the crowd, Bhopal
SBI Ascent
Strategy Retreat · Hotel Taj, Bhopal · 8-10 Jan 2025Music festivals in India
NH7 Weekender, Sunburn, Ziro, Magnetic Fields, Lollapalooza India, Echoes of Earth — and where Indiestaan fits.
Read the guide →GuideLiterature festivals in India
Jaipur, Kerala, Bangalore, Mathrubhumi, Hyderabad, Goa, Vishwarang — and GIFLIF Fest.
Read the guide →GuideFilm festivals in India
IFFI Goa, MAMI Mumbai, IFFK Kerala, Kolkata and Dharamshala.
Read the guide →GuideHow to choose an event agency
The four different jobs agencies do, and the questions worth asking — including the ones we would rather you asked us.
Read the guide →Building something of your own?
Most people who read these guides end up asking the same question: could we run one ourselves? Usually the answer is yes.