India’s literary festivals boom bringing in lots of tourists, but little profits
Photo Caption: Pico Iyer in coversation with Akash Kapur, at the Jaipur Literary Festival, earlier today. Courtesy JLF's Facebook page.
The Jaipur Literature Festival, which starts today, has more than a fair share of heavyweight authors, controversies, media coverage and more than 100,000 visitors. The one thing it lacks, surprisingly, is profitability. In the last six years, the festival has seen 100% increase in attendance every year —starting with 7,000 people in 2006 and 125,000 last year. But the festival has so far been unable to generate enough revenue to cover its costs.
The eighth festival began today with a significant lineup of authors including the Dalai Lama, Booker winner Howard Jacobson, Pico Iyer, Abraham Verghese, Zoe Heller, among others. However, it will “lose a ton of money this year.” Those are the words of Sanjoy Roy, the managing director of Team Work Productions, the company that organizes the Jaipur Literary Festival, also known as JLF. Since its ethos lies in making itself accessible to as many people as possible, the festival is not ticketed and visitors are allowed free entry.
