Almora Literature Festival 2026: three days at Malla Mahal, three hours from Haldwani

What the literature festival is

The Almora Literature Festival returns to Malla Mahal for three days at the end of October. The organiser pitches it as more than a literary gathering, a platform for conversations that run across literature, culture, environment, science and public policy, with the intellectual and cultural heritage of Uttarakhand as the backdrop.

For students and for writers early in their work the pull is access. The festival puts leading Indian authors and thinkers in the same rooms as the people who read them, over three days, in one small hill town.

This year: young minds, glaciers and water

The 2026 edition is centred on engaging and empowering young minds, in the organiser's own words. Running alongside it is a special focus on glaciers and water, which the festival describes as among the most pressing environmental challenges of our time.

That focus lands close to home in Kumaon. How much the high catchments hold through winter decides what reaches the Kosi and the Gaula by May, so a glacier session in Almora reads as a local water story as much as a climate one.

The festival's website also carries the standing line "Pahadi voices, Himalayan ideas." We have taken the young minds and glaciers focus from the organiser's 2026 announcement.

Speakers and entry

This is the festival's fourth edition. On 3 October 2026 its website named a first group of 2026 speakers: the mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik, the poet Sudeep Sen, the scholar Purushottam Agrawal, Anil Karki, Romola Butalia, Diwa Bhatt, the historian Aparna Vaidik and the constitutional lawyer Gautam Bhatia. The organiser says more names and the session schedule are being finalised and will go to people who pre-register first.

Entry is free, but you register for a pass on the festival site before you go. Alongside the panels the site lists book launches, a kavi sammelan, workshops, exhibitions, an open mic and a hip-hop and spoken word cypher.

Malla Mahal, the venue

Malla Mahal is the Chand-era palace complex on the Almora ridge, in the middle of the old town above the Lala Bazaar stretch. It has worked as a treasury, a courthouse and a school across its long second life, and its stone courtyards now hold the festival's stages. The town is walkable from it, which is part of why a three day festival here does not need a shuttle.

Open Malla Mahal in Google Maps →

Getting to Almora from Haldwani

Almora is 87 km from Haldwani via NH109. A quiet weekday morning run takes about 2 hr 50 min, and a weekend afternoon stretches it closer to 3 hr 15 min. The road climbs north through Kathgodam, past the Bhimtal turn off, into Bhowali, then drops to the Kosi and follows the river through Garampani to Khairna before the last 27 km of switchbacks up to the Almora ridge.

Full route notes, current cab fares and the seasonal traffic pattern are in our Haldwani to Almora guide. Kainchi Dham sits on the same road a little past Bhowali, so a festival trip absorbs a temple stop with no detour at all.

Shared taxis and buses run from Haldwani through the day. Leave by early afternoon at the latest if you want to arrive in daylight, since the Khairna to Almora climb is slow after dark.

Where to stay

Almora's own rooms are limited and a festival weekend thins them quickly, so basing yourself in Haldwani and driving up is a fair fallback if the ridge is full. Allow close to three hours each way and start early if you want to be inside Malla Mahal for the first session of the day.

• Hotels near Kathgodam railway station: the Nainital Road end of the city, which saves twenty minutes on the morning run.
• Hotel Maplewood Premier: a premium stay on the same road out of town.
• Budget stays under Rs 1,500: if you are here for all three days.
• Bhowali and Bhimtal stays: roughly halfway up, for a shorter second morning.

Or go straight to our Haldwani hotel search and filter by area and price.

Good to know

• The festival runs Friday through Sunday, so the weekend carries two of the three days and the ridge will be at its busiest on 31 October and 1 November.
• The first speakers were named by 3 October 2026, but the session schedule was still being finalised. Check the festival site before you fix which day to go.
• Entry is free, but register for a pass on the festival site before you travel.
• Late October on the Almora ridge turns cold once the sun drops behind the range. Carry a layer even if Haldwani was warm when you left.
• Plan the drive back before evening. The Khairna descent and the Bhowali bazaar stretch are both slow after dark.

Common questions

How we listed this

We list local and regional events editorially and are not the organiser. The dates, the venue and this year's stated focus on this page are taken from the Almora Literature Festival's own announcement, read on 27 September 2026, and from the festival's website. The free entry with pre-registration, the edition number and the first speakers were added from the festival website on 3 October 2026, when the session schedule was still being finalised. The distance, the drive time, the route and the stay advice are ours. If anything changes, the organiser announces it, not us. Tell us at hih.editorial@gmail.com if anything here has gone out of date.

We list this event editorially. We do not sell passes, take bookings or earn anything from the organiser's links. Confirm entry terms with the organiser before you travel.