Nat’l Street Food Festival returns to Delhi with 500 dishes from 27 states

The 15th edition at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium runs till Sunday, features 145 stalls, is fully cashless and tickets cost ₹200 per person.

The 15th edition of the National Street Food Festival opened at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in the Capital on Friday, bringing together more than 500 authentic dishes from 27 states, organisers said. The festival, organised by the National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), will continue till Sunday from 12 pm to 11 pm and is being held in a completely cashless format for the first time.

Organised by NASVI, the three-day event brings tribal, regional and traditional dishes from across India and runs daily from 12 pm to 11 pm. (Sanchit Khanna/HT)

Arbind Singh, national coordinator of NASVI, said, “This is also the first time that the entire festival is completely cashless and only online transactions are being accepted in stalls. This is to increase transparency and also make vendors more confident in dealing with online transactions. NASVI trains street vendors all across the country, and from that network, vendors are chosen to come to the festival.”

Entry to the festival is priced at ₹200 per person, with tickets available both online and at the gate.

Among the crowd-pullers this year is chicken podom, a tribal speciality from Jharkhand, slow-cooked on burnt charcoal and infused with the aroma of sal leaf. The dish emerged as a fan favourite as visitors queued up at the Jharkhand stall.

Rishabh Oraon,19, who specialises in tribal food from Jharkhand, said he returned to the festival after being invited for a second time this year. “We believe in bringing our authentic taste to the festival, which is why everything, from the chicken podium to chicken pitta, which we sometimes also call the tribal pizza, has been slow-cooked on charcoal to give it the smoky flavours,” Oraon said. He is running the stall along with his parents, younger sister and fiancée.

The festival features a wide range of regional specialities, including Ayodhya’s khurchan peda, which has been brought to the festival for the first time, Bengal’s winter sweet patishapta, Andhra Pradesh’s bamboo chicken, and Kashmir’s sheermaal and kahwa.

Vendors from across the country highlighted both the exposure and personal experiences associated with the event. Kolkata-based Sandeep Nandi, 63, while packing an order, said, “This is my first time here, and I am really enjoying myself. The exposure is great, and I think I would love to come back next year as well.”

Deepak Mohite, 52, a veteran participant from Maharashtra who has attended the festival for the last seven years, said his family was helping him set up the stall this time. “We thought, this time, we will use this opportunity to visit the tourist attractions in Delhi as well. After the festival ends, we will stay for a couple extra days,” he said. His stall offers dishes such as zunka bhakri, sabudana vada and jumbo masala papad.

Beyond food, the festival also offers cultural programmes scheduled throughout the weekend, a dedicated kids’ corner with rides and toy shops, a stall offering live sketches, shops selling crochet items and home decor, and popular street snacks such as panipuri and bhelpuri.

Organisers said NASVI trains vendors across the country and, around four months before the festival when preparations begin, vendors from this network are approached by the organisation. A total of 140 stalls have been set up at the festival this year.

Visitors said the diversity of cuisines remains the festival’s biggest draw. “We look forward to this street food festival, and we come every year. The fact that you get to explore so many different kinds of authentic dishes from all around the country, all-in-one place, is always exciting for food enthusiasts,” said Raghav Singh, who visited the festival with his wife and children.