Nandikar's National Theatre Festival was started in 1984. It is arranged annually in Kolkata

Kolkata

Kolkata , formerly known as Calcutta, is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal. Located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, it was the commercial capital of East India...

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, between 16 and 25 December. Initiated and organized, as the name suggest, by the theatre group Nandikar

Nandikar

Nandikar is a theatre group in India. The group has its headquarters in Kolkata in the state of West Bengal, but works around the world.__FORCETOC__-History:...

. The festival is held at the Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

Academy of Fine Arts, Calcutta

The Academy of Fine Arts in Kolkata is one of the oldest fine arts societies in India.- History :The academy was formally established in 1933. It was initially located in a room loaned by the Indian Museum, and the annual exhibitions used to take place in the adjoining verandah.In the 1950s,...

.

The stated twin objective for the festival is to facilitate cultural integration in India and providing a forum for exchange of notes among theatre workers from different parts of the country. However, the festival was initially a part of Nandikar's silver jubilee, but due to the good reception the group decided to turn it into an annual event.

The festival display productions by leading and avant-garde

Avant-garde

Avant-garde means "advance guard" or "vanguard". The adjective form is used in English to refer to people or works that are experimental or innovative, particularly with respect to art, culture, and politics....

theatre troupes from all over India and, occasionally, from countries like USA, Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

, Switzerland

Switzerland

Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....

, Pakistan

Pakistan

Pakistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan is a sovereign state in South Asia. It has a coastline along the Arabian Sea and the Gulf of Oman in the south and is bordered by Afghanistan and Iran in the west, India in the east and China in the far northeast. In the north, Tajikistan...

, Nepal

Nepal

Nepal , officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal, is a landlocked sovereign state located in South Asia. It is located in the Himalayas and bordered to the north by the People's Republic of China, and to the south, east, and west by the Republic of India...

 and Bangladesh

Bangladesh

Bangladesh , officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh is a sovereign state located in South Asia. It is bordered by India on all sides except for a small border with Burma to the far southeast and by the Bay of Bengal to the south...

.

Exhibitions and workshops are also arranged in connection with the festival.