The vibrant Awadh Mahotsav or Wajid Ali Shah Awadh Festival has returned to Lucknow in its full fervour and has begun entertaining audiences from today. The five-day extravaganza, at Gomti Nagar's Sangeet Natak Akademi (SNA), will be showcasing cultural and performing arts in complete glory.

Organised by the Culture and Tourism Department, in collab with SNA, the event will involve a cornucopia of music and dance performances, an array of cuisines, fashion shows, rich heritage walks and more! Besides, the exquisite culture of Awadh's Ganga–Jamuni Tehzeeb will be exhibited through a host of events like Bhajan-Ghazal, Qawwali, Sufi mehfil, diverse folk arts like Kathak, Kajri, Kissagoi and so on.

In the past affairs, spectators have often been mesmerised by the cultural explosion. This year too, the event's reputation preceding it, the Awadh Mahotsav has numerous surprises planned for the visitors. It has something planned for people of every taste - from Bollywood to qawwali, from poetry to ghazal.

Whether it's a spellbinding dance performance by Kathak Kendra or soulful bhajans in the voice of Abhijit Ghoshal from Mumbai, soothing ghazal by Rampur-based Ustad Sakhawat Hussain or Sufi songs by Master Salim from Jalandhar, the fleet of performances embellishing day 1 is exciting!

The following days will include extraordinary performances by Padma Shri Kathak dancer Puru Dadheech, the exemplar Kissagoi artiste Himanshu Bajpai, Padma Shri vocalist Urmila Srivasatav, the Sufi maestro Batool Begum, among other renowned artistes.

Artistes from all over the country will be hosted at Awadh Mohatsav — nothing short of a cultural odyssey in the city of Nawabs. Moreover, the festival will be brimming with fun activities like kite flying, ikka-tanga race, chess competition, rangoli making, nautanki, among other attractions.

When: Till April 5, 2024 | 6 PM onwards every day

Where: Uttar Pradesh Sangeet Natak Akademi, Vipin Khand Gomti Nagar, Lucknow