Delhi govt moves film festival to December over monsoon, G20

The plan to organise an international film festival was first floated in the 2022-23 annual budget as a means to promote Delhi’s art, culture, and tourism.

The Delhi government will likely host its first international film festival in the first week of December and the Delhi tourism department has booked the Siri Fort Auditorium in south Delhi as one of the proposed venues for the festival, officials aware of the development told HT.

The Delhi tourism department has booked the Siri Fort Auditorium in south Delhi as one of the proposed venues for the festival. (Representational Image/Getty)

The plan to organise an international film festival was first floated in the 2022-23 annual budget as a means to promote Delhi’s art, culture, and tourism. According to officials, the plan was to organise the festival in August but the government had not formally announced the dates. After multiple discussions, the authorities decided to push it to December because of factors multiple including the monsoon, and the upcoming G20 Summit in September which will not only leave the hotels and key venues in the Capital booked but will also lead to traffic diversions.

“The idea is to hold the festival at a time when the weather is not a problem, the venues are available because multiple events will be organised and people should be able to move without deterrents like waterlogging,” said an official of the Delhi government.

“The festival will likely be organised in the first week of December when the city has cold and pleasant weather. It will comprise multiple events and the final dates will be formally announced soon,” said a second official.

An official at Siri Fort Auditorium, a multi-auditorium complex in south Delhi under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, said the tourism department has blocked the auditorium from December 1-8 to host the festival.

“All these aspects have been discussed in the meetings held in the past over the film festival. The competent authority will announce the dates at an appropriate time,” said a third official aware of the development.

The film festival will likely be held across multiple venues in the Capital and the process of identifying other venues is still going on.

“We are planning to hold the opening ceremony at Siri Fort auditorium. The event will also have a grand closing ceremony. Some of the events are being planned in indoor facilities while some are at outdoor facilities,” said the above quoted official.