Jaipur Literature Festival 2027: Dates, Passes and How to Plan

The Jaipur Literature Festival 2027 will be held from 14 to 18 January at Hotel Clarks Amer on JLN Marg, according to the festival’s website. It is the 20th edition. Entry is by paid online registration, the first list of speakers is out, and the opening day coincides with Jaipur’s Kite Festival, which makes this one of the best weeks of the year to be in the city. This guide covers what is confirmed, how registration works, where to stay and how to get through five crowded days.

JLF 2027 at a glance

Dates	Thursday 14 – Monday 18 January 2027
Edition	20th
Venue	Hotel Clarks Amer, JLN Marg, Jaipur
Organisers	Directors Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple; produced by Teamwork Arts
Scale	More than 250 speakers and over 100 performing artistes, by the organisers’ count
Entry	Paid online registration; mobile badge with QR code
Children	11 and under free with a registered parent; 12 and above need their own registration
Jaipur BookMark	14–18 January 2027
Jaipur Music Stage	14–16 January 2027, ticketed separately
Heritage Evening	17 January at Amber Fort, by invitation or as a paid add-on for Friends of the Festival

What the festival is

The Jaipur Literature Festival began in 2006 in the courtyards of Diggi Palace in C-Scheme and stayed there for many years. It outgrew the palace and is now held at Hotel Clarks Amer, where the lawns and halls are turned into several stages running sessions in parallel from morning to early evening. The programme mixes fiction, history, politics, science, poetry and cinema, with sessions in English and Indian languages. The directors are the writers Namita Gokhale and William Dalrymple, and the producer is Teamwork Arts, which also runs JLF editions in the United Kingdom and the United States.

A general registration gives access to all the stages inside the festival hub. Seating is first come, first seated, and the festival does not allow seats to be held for others. There are food stalls and restaurants on site, a festival bookshop and a merchandise store.

Speakers announced so far

The festival releases speakers in stages and publishes the full programme closer to January. Names on the festival’s 2027 list in early October 2026 included:

• Nobel laureates Olga Tokarczuk, Esther Duflo and Sir Paul Nurse
• International Booker winner Geetanjali Shree
• Sudha Murty, Homi K. Bhabha, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw and S.Y. Quraishi
• Novelists Avni Doshi, Tahmima Anam, Karan Mahajan, Louise Kennedy, Isabella Hammad, Omar El Akkad and B. Jeyamohan
• Meera Syal, the BBC’s Lyse Doucet, the critic James Wood and the mathematician Marcus du Sautoy
• Damodar Mauzo, Anamika, Shrabani Basu, Vali Nasr and the chef and author Asma Khan

Line-ups change, so treat this as a snapshot and check the festival’s speakers page before you plan your days. Session times are usually published a few weeks before the festival.

How registration works

All registration is online through the festival’s website. The festival’s FAQ sets out the rules:

• Categories. Prices vary by category, with early-bird discounts. There is a student category that is cheaper than the others, and no group discount.
• Children. Everyone aged 12 and above must be registered individually. Children of 11 and under attend free on a parent’s registration; carry the child’s ID.
• Mobile badge. General and student registrants receive an M-badge with a unique QR code by email and WhatsApp. There is no physical pass to collect.
• Documents. Everyone, children included, should carry photo identification and their registration code. The festival says missing documents can mean refused entry.
• No transfers. Paid registrations are non-refundable and non-transferable.

The festival had not published a single headline price in its FAQ when this guide was written; the registration page shows the current rate for each category and day.

Friends of the Festival

The premium tier is the Friend of the Festival (FOF) package. According to the festival’s FAQ:

• Packages start at ₹14,500 and can be bought for single days or for all five.
• FOFs get a dedicated lounge with meals, access to the Music Stage on the days they are registered for, and sundowner evenings on the five-day package.
• Children aged 7 to 11 pay half; those of 12 and above pay full price.
• Tickets to the Heritage Evening at Amber Fort on 17 January and to the Writers’ Ball can be bought as add-ons. The opening reception is by invitation only.
• A 75 per cent refund is available on FOF packages cancelled on or before 15 December 2026.

Jaipur Music Stage

The Jaipur Music Stage runs at Clarks Amer from 14 to 16 January 2027 and has its own tickets and website. In 2026 its line-up included Thaikkudam Bridge, Parvaaz, Raman Negi and the Vasu Dixit Collective. The 2027 artists had not been announced when this guide was written. See our concerts page for updates.

Getting to Clarks Amer

Clarks Amer is on JLN Marg in south Jaipur, opposite Fortis Escorts Hospital, a few minutes from World Trade Park and Jawahar Circle and a short drive from the airport. There is no metro on JLN Marg; the Pink Line serves the old city and the western suburbs only.

• From the walled city or MI Road: allow 40 to 45 minutes by cab or auto in festival traffic.
• From Malviya Nagar or Jawahar Circle: 10 to 15 minutes.
• From the airport: about 15 minutes outside peak hours.
• Driving yourself: parking near the venue is very limited. Get dropped a few hundred metres away and walk.

JLN Marg is slow all day during the festival, and worst between 9 am and 11 am and after 5 pm. On the morning of 14 January there is a second complication, which is that the whole city is on its rooftops flying kites.

Where to stay

The festival lists three official hotels, bookable through its website with room rates from ₹14,500 to ₹18,000 a night including taxes and breakfast: Clarks Amer itself, The Lalit at Jawahar Circle and the Jaipur Marriott, which the festival describes as a three-minute drive from the venue. All three sell out early.

If those are full or beyond your budget, look in Malviya Nagar and around Jawahar Circle for the shortest commute, or on Tonk Road. Staying in a heritage hotel in Bani Park or C-Scheme is more atmospheric and closer to the old city, but adds 30 to 45 minutes each way. Book as soon as you have your dates: festival week overlaps with peak tourist season.

How to get the most out of it

• Choose before you arrive. With several stages running at once, you can see perhaps five or six sessions a day. Mark two or three you will not miss and fill in around them.
• Arrive early for big names. Reach the stage 20 minutes before the session. Headline talks fill and close.
• Go on a weekday if you can. In 2027 the festival runs Thursday to Monday. Saturday and Sunday are the most crowded; Thursday, Friday and Monday are easier.
• Dress in layers. January mornings in Jaipur are cold and the afternoon sun on the lawns is strong. Carry a shawl, sunglasses and a water bottle.
• Eat off-peak. Food stalls are busiest from 1 pm to 2:30 pm. Eat at noon or after three.
• Carry a tote. You will buy books. Author signings follow many sessions at the festival bookshop.
• Accessibility. The festival says wheelchair facilities are available at the venue.

What else to do that week

The Kite Festival, 14 January. Jaipur flies kites for Makar Sankranti on 14 January, and the tourism department organises a public kite festival. If you have a free hour on opening day, get onto a rooftop in the walled city. Riders should watch for kite string across roads. See our Kite Festival guide.

The old city and the forts. Mid-January is the best weather of the year for Amber Fort, City Palace and Nahargarh. Go to Amber at the 8 am opening and you can be at the festival by late morning. Our weekend guide lists 35 ideas.

Jawahar Kala Kendra. The city’s arts centre, ten minutes up JLN Marg from the festival, has free exhibitions and evening performances. See Jawahar Kala Kendra.

Film and exhibitions. The Jaipur International Film Festival is scheduled for 8 to 12 January, just before JLF, though its organisers say the 2027 edition is aimed at industry professionals. The Decor India Show runs at JECC from 22 to 25 January.

Evenings. Jaipur Comedy Club in Malviya Nagar is ten minutes from Clarks Amer and runs stand-up on weekend evenings. Our guide to live music and comedy venues has the rest.

A short history of the venue move

For regulars who remember Diggi Palace: the festival’s early editions were held in the palace’s courtyards from 2006, and the hotel’s own website still describes itself as the festival’s home for many years. As audiences grew, the main festival shifted to the larger grounds of Clarks Amer, which had earlier hosted the music stage. If your memories are of the Front Lawn and the Mughal Tent, expect a bigger and more spread-out festival, with more room to sit and longer walks between stages. Diggi Palace is still worth a visit for old times’ sake.

Before you book

Dates, venue, the FOF price and the Music Stage dates in this guide come from the festival’s website and FAQ as they stood in October 2026. Speakers, session timings and general registration prices are the things most likely to change. We list sessions and related events on our Jaipur Literature Festival page as they are announced, and everything else on in the city on this week in Jaipur.

Frequently asked questions

When is the Jaipur Literature Festival 2027?

14 to 18 January 2027, according to the festival's website. It is the 20th edition. Jaipur BookMark, the publishing forum, runs on the same dates.

Where is JLF 2027 held?

At Hotel Clarks Amer on Jawahar Lal Nehru Marg in south Jaipur, opposite Fortis Escorts Hospital. The festival is no longer held at Diggi Palace.

Is the Jaipur Literature Festival free?

No. Entry is by paid online registration. The festival says prices vary by category, with early-bird discounts and a cheaper student category. Children aged 11 and under attend free with a registered parent.

Do I need a physical pass?

General and student registrants do not. You receive a mobile badge with a QR code by email and WhatsApp, and that is scanned at the gate. Friends of the Festival, speakers and performers collect a physical badge at the venue.

What is a Friend of the Festival package?

A premium registration that adds lounge access, meals, the Music Stage and evening events. Packages start at ₹14,500, can be bought for single days, and are 75 per cent refundable if cancelled on or before 15 December 2026.

What is the Jaipur Music Stage?

The festival's evening music programme at Clarks Amer, from 14 to 16 January 2027. It is ticketed separately; Friends of the Festival get access on the days they have registered for.

Sources checked

• www.jaipurliteraturefestival.org/
• api.jaipurliteraturefestival.org/api/legalPages?lang=en&category=FAQ
• api.jaipurliteraturefestival.org/api/registerPage?lang=en
• jaipurmusicstage.com/
• www.hoteldiggipalace.com/
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaipur_Literature_Festival
• www.tourism.rajasthan.gov.in/fairs-and-festivals.html
• www.jiffindia.org/
• www.tradeindia.com/tradeshows/city/jaipur/197559/year-2027/january/
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaipur_Metro
• allevents.in/jaipur/comedy

Researched and written by the jaipur2go editors. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.