Kommune’s Spoken Fest, Asia’s largest spoken word festival, made its debut in Chandigarh with Spoken Evening at Chitkara University, bringing its creative spirit to a campus buzzing with emerging talent. The event followed Qisson Ka Karwaan, a storytelling workshop led by Roshan Abbas, Festival Director and Founder of Kommune.
The decision to begin Spoken’s Chandigarh chapter on a university campus was intentional. Young artists often discover their voice in environments where they feel seen, encouraged, and creatively safe. By hosting both the workshop and the evening performances at Chitkara University, Spoken aimed to offer students meaningful exposure to artistic expression, helping shape the next generation of storytellers through immersive, firsthand experiences.
This vision came alive when two workshop participants, Lucky and Yuvraj, both students from Chitkara University - who discovered their talent for storytelling recently during the course of the workshops leading up to the event - opened the Spoken Evening with their own performances, symbolising the festival’s commitment to nurturing a cycle of learning, expression, and opportunity.
Speaking about the initiative, Roshan Abbas said, “A lot of our journeys begin in the classrooms and corridors of a campus. The entire idea is to empower and shape the next generation of storytellers. Young people are capable of becoming great artists if they just get a stage, a mentor, or the encouragement to speak up.”
Adding her thoughts on hosting the festival at Chitkara University, Dr. Madhu Chitkara, Pro-Chancellor, Chitkara University, said, “At Chitkara University, we believe that creativity thrives when young minds are given platforms to express their ideas fearlessly. Hosting Spoken Fest on our campus aligns with our commitment to nurturing imagination, confidence, and artistic exploration among our students.
It was inspiring to watch our learners perform alongside celebrated artists and witness storytelling in its most transformative form.” The evening continued with remarkable performances by some of the most admired artists in the spoken word and creative arts space, including Divya Dutta, Shweta Tripathi, Sriti Jha, Justh, Gurpreet Saini, and the cast of Kommune Special, ‘Bohot Zor Se Pyaar Laga Hai’.
Each artist brought a unique voice and presence to the stage, creating an intimate yet electric atmosphere that stayed true to the spirit of Spoken Fest—where art finds a home and audiences find community.