BangladeshTheatreCaravan2026
Rising Tides, Reinventing the Roots
A Festival That Connects Rural & the Capital
Bangladesh Theatre Caravan brings together theatre, culture, heritage, and environmental consciousness across South Asia through performance, research, dialogue, and collective practice. At a critical crossroads, it explores ecological crisis, cultural erosion, and heritage loss while reconnecting with our shared roots to imagine a sustainable, resilient future.
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South Asia & Beyond
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26–30 December
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10 theatre, 1 conference, 1 closing
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2 shows each
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Across 10 theatre venues
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One venue each
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20 per cluster
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Each team performs once
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Open grounds beside the stages
Rising Tides, Reinventing the Roots
From the crisis of our time, we turn to our roots; not to return, but to move forward anew.
Regional Artistic Exchange
Bringing 200+ South Asian artists, theatre practitioners, performers and communities together to exchange artistic practices, perspectives, stories and experiences across borders, through 40 theatre shows across the festival's venues in Bangladesh.
Living Heritage Activation
120 folk performance teams and 300+ folk performers across 6 regional clusters, bringing marginalised performance traditions back into view, reconnecting with South Asia's living cultural traditions, indigenous knowledge and heritage practices to explore how they can be preserved, re-imagined and made relevant today.
Ecological & Social Reflection
Creating dialogue around environmental and social challenges, exploring the relationship between nature, culture, communities and sustainable ways of living through theatre and interdisciplinary inquiry.
Where the caravan stops.
Twelve venues: ten theatre venues, six of them with a Cultural Mela ground, one conference centre and a shoreline.
Theatre + Cultural Mela venues
- Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Dhaka
- Chattogram
- Rajshahi
- Sylhet
- Bogura
- Barishal
Each has an open space for the Cultural Mela and the Regional Caravan folk performances.
Theatre-only venues
- Dhaka University
- North South University
- Mohila Samity
Theatre productions without a Cultural Mela. Counting the two Shilpakala halls, the BSA Main Auditorium and the BSA Experimental Hall, the theatre venues number ten.
Conference venue
- Bangladesh–China Friendship Conference Centre, Dhaka
International Conference & Conversations, 27–29 December.
Grand Closing venue
- Cox's Bazar, Laboni Beach shoreline
The final act, 30 December, at sunset.
- 12
- Venues overall
- 10
- Theatre venues
- 1
- Conference venue
- 1
- Grand Closing venue
Six components. One continuous act.
Theatre, caravan, mela, conference, masterclass and the grand closing — running at once, across twelve venues.
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Theatre Productions
Twenty Productions. Forty Shows. Ten Venues.
The spine of the festival. Twenty selected productions from South Asia and beyond each perform two shows, forty in all, across ten theatre venues. The theatre programme runs simultaneously across those venues through the first four days of the festival.
20 Productions40 Shows10 Theatre venuesTheatre→ - 2
Regional Caravan
The most original feature of BTC 2026.
A simultaneous folk performance programme across six regional clusters and six designated regional venues. One hundred and twenty folk performance teams, twenty per cluster and more than three hundred performers in all, each perform once, on one assigned day at one assigned venue, in two sessions a day.
6 Clusters300+ Performers120 TeamsCaravan→ - 5
Masterclass Workshop
Three days of practice, six cities at once.
A structured workshop programme running simultaneously across six venues, bringing international facilitation to Bangladeshi theatre practitioners and students. Four hours a day, every day, in acting, directorial poetics, playwriting, scenography, lighting, theatre music and vocal biomechanics.
400+ Participants12 Facilitators6 CitiesMasterclass→ - 3
Cultural Mela
Two hundred stalls, open from morning to night.
A daily open Cultural Mela runs simultaneously at six festival locations, presenting artisans, cottage industries, folk performances and local vendors throughout the festival: handloom and nakshi kantha, terracotta and clay, heritage kitchens, and the makers of khol, ektara, dotara and dhak.
200 Craft stalls6 Locations12h Open dailyMela→ - 4
International Conference & Conversations
Not a supplement to the festival. A vital part of it.
Conceived not as an academic add-on but as an integral part of Bangladesh Theatre Caravan 2026, the International Conference brings together South Asian artists, scholars and cultural practitioners over three days and six sessions: three Conference Panels, each with a moderator, a keynote speaker and three panelists, and three PEP Talks, each a conversation between one guest and one host. Every session seats around three hundred participants, opening the argument to academics and the public alike.
3 Conference Panels3 PEP Talks300 Participants per session6 SessionsConference→ - 6
Grand Closing
A 120 km natural canvas at Cox's Bazar.
A spectacular Grand Closing Day at Cox's Bazar, where five hundred performers from across South Asia come together for one historic final act along the longest natural sea beach in the world, with sunset light, sea acoustics, and un-amplified folk instruments.
500 Performers120 Km canvas1 PerformanceGrand Closing→
Twenty Productions. Forty Shows.
Each selected production performs two shows across ten theatre venues, the whole programme running simultaneously through the first four days.
- 26–29 December 2026
- 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM daily
- Each production performs twice. Directors meet after every show.
Six Regional Clusters. Six Venues. One Performance Each.
The most original feature of BTC 2026 is a simultaneous folk performance programme across six regional clusters, each with its own designated regional venue.
One hundred and twenty folk performance teams, twenty from each cluster and more than three hundred performers in all, take part. Every team performs once, and is assigned to one specific day and one specific venue.
Each regional venue holds two performance sessions a day: 3:00 PM to 6:15 PM and 7:15 PM to 9:00 PM. The hundred and twenty teams are spread across the six venues and the festival days by the final programme schedule, and special featured folk performers have dedicated performances at selected venues within that count.
South Asia & Beyond. 8+ nations on one stage.
Companies from the eight South Asian nations and from any country in the world, selected through an open call.
Bangladesh
6
India
2
Pakistan
2
Nepal
2
Bhutan
2
Sri Lanka
2
Maldives
2
Afghanistan
2
Cultural Mela
A daily open Cultural Mela runs simultaneously at six festival locations, presenting artisans, cottage industries, folk performances and local vendors throughout the festival: handloom and nakshi kantha, terracotta and clay, heritage kitchens, and the makers of khol, ektara, dotara and dhak.
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Traditional craft
Handloom, nakshi kantha, bamboo & jute weaving
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Indigenous culinary
Heritage South Asian delicacies & pitha
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Folk pottery & clay
Terracotta art, clay dolls, traditional cookware
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Folk instruments
Khol, ektara, dotara, flute, dhak & their makers
- 26–29 December 2026
- 10:00 AM – 10:00 PM daily
- Live folk music and performance zones across every ground.
Not a supplement to the festival. A vital part of it.
Conceived not as an academic add-on but as an integral part of Bangladesh Theatre Caravan 2026, the International Conference brings together South Asian artists, scholars and cultural practitioners over three days and six sessions: three Conference Panels, each with a moderator, a keynote speaker and three panelists, and three PEP Talks, each a conversation between one guest and one host. Every session seats around three hundred participants, opening the argument to academics and the public alike.
- 27–29 December 2026
- Bangladesh–China Friendship Conference Centre, Dhaka
- A lasting platform for South Asian knowledge exchange, dialogue and collaboration.
3-Day Masterclass Workshop
A structured workshop programme running simultaneously across 6 venues, bringing international facilitation to Bangladeshi theatre practitioners and students.
400+
12
4
6
- 27–29 December 2026
- 4 hours per day
- Certificate and workshop kit.
A 120 km natural canvas at Cox's Bazar.
A spectacular Grand Closing Day at Cox's Bazar, where five hundred performers from across South Asia come together for one historic final act along the longest natural sea beach in the world, with sunset light, sea acoustics, and un-amplified folk instruments.
500
Performers
120
Km canvas
1
Performance
Outcome
The BTC Declaration on culture, ecology and performing arts heritage.
What the caravan leaves behind.
Audience, broadcast, publication and the institutional record of a festival built to return every year.
0K+
Live attendees
12 venues · 5 days
2–0M
TV viewers
National audience
0M+
Social impressions
Across platforms
0K+
Streaming
Online & live stream
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Countries
Press & media outreach
Artistic & Cultural
- 20 productions from South Asia and beyond, 40 shows across 10 theatre venues
- 120 folk performance teams and 300+ folk performers on a high-quality national platform
- 400+ practitioners trained; new South Asian co-production networks formed
Institutional & Publications
- Annual international festival model established for Bangladesh
- Peer-reviewed Conference Journal and bilingual Festival Magazine published
- Photo/video archive and the BTC Declaration developed
Economic, Social & Diplomatic
- 300+ direct jobs; economic stimulus in 6 regional cities via cultural tourism
- Income support for folk artists, artisans and vendors through the Mela platform
- South Asian cultural bonds deepened; Bangladesh positioned as regional leader
A platform of national and regional significance.
Principal Sponsors
Headline association across every venue, broadcast and publication.
Functional Sponsors
Category partnerships attached to festival operations.
Strategic & Institutional
Long-horizon partners in policy, academia and media.
Organisers
Curation & artistic direction
CIRCUS
Centre for Interdisciplinary Research in Culture, Urbanization and Society
An independent platform advancing research, arts, culture, education and social innovation. We connect ideas, people and communities through interdisciplinary collaboration.
- Annual festival programming
- Research & publication
- Theatre training & education
- Heritage & folk revival
Academic Partner
Department of Theatre and Performance Studies
University of Dhaka
The Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, with 30 years of intellectual journey and experience, proudly presents Bangladesh Theatre Caravan 2026 along with CIRCUS.
- 30 years of practice
- Academic leadership
- Festival host
Operations & logistics
Scope360
Operations & execution partner
Scope360 provides operational management, logistics and event execution expertise across every venue and regional cluster.
- Ground operations
- Cluster & venue logistics
- Venue technical setup
- District coordination
Who carries the caravan.
A festival director, two ambassadors and seventeen advisors who carry the caravan.
Festival Director
Shahman Moishan
Moishan is a faculty member of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at the University of Dhaka, internationally recognised for his work as a playwright, director, dramaturge and cultural theorist.
Ambassadors
Azmeri Haque Badhon
Nationally and internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi film actress
Mosharraf Karim
Nationally and internationally acclaimed Bangladeshi theatre, TV and film actor
Advisory Council
Tariq Anam Khan
Actor, Director, Writer & Producer
Fatema Tuz Zohra
Nazrul Sangeet Singer
Lubna Marium
Dancer, Researcher & Cultural Activist
Azad Abul Kalam
Actor, Director & Playwright
Amitabh Reza Chowdhury
Filmmaker
Dr. Shamsad Mortuza
Specialist, Literary and Cultural Studies
Marina Tabassum
Architect
Dr. Samina Luthfa
Sociologist & Theatre Practitioner
Dr. Akter Mahmud
Urban Planner & Academician
Nasir Ali Mamun
Photographer
AFM Nurur Rahman Bacchu
Specialist, Arts-Training
Bakar Bakul
Theatre Practitioner
Makbul Chowdhury
Documentary Filmmaker
Nazia Andaleeb Preema
Visual Artist, Curator
Asadul Islam
Playwright, Theatre Practitioner
Mohsina Akter
Theatre Academic & Practitioner
Sadaf Saaz
Poet, Activist & Entrepreneur
Key dates
Call For Production
Submissions open to theatre groups from South Asia and beyond, any country in the world: scripts, preview recordings and paper abstracts.
Final Selection
Declaration of the selected productions, the cluster schedules and the conference sessions.
Caravan, Mela & Theatre Show
The festival opens. Theatre productions across ten venues, the six regional clusters and the Cultural Mela begin simultaneously.
Conference & Masterclass
International Conference in Dhaka alongside three days of masterclass labs running in six cities.
Grand Closing
500 performers on the Cox's Bazar shoreline, followed by the BTC Declaration.
Rising Tides, Reinventing the Roots
Bring your production to Bangladesh Theatre Caravan.
Twenty theatre productions from South Asia and beyond, from any country in the world, will be selected to stage forty shows across ten theatre venues in Bangladesh, and to close the festival together on the shoreline at Cox's Bazar. This page is the submission portal for that selection.