Bellevue's Viya Contemporary art gallery opens the Jaipur Literature Festival Seattle on Thursday, Sept. 17. The four-day festival runs through Sunday, Sept. 20, across three venues.

The festival, now in its third year, uses Viya Contemporary in Bellevue, the Seattle Public Library's Central Library and the Wyncote Northwest Forum at Town Hall in downtown Seattle.

It features 26 speakers, most of Indian and South Asian descent, drawn from global and local arts scenes, the Northwest Asian Weekly reported.

For Bellevue residents, the Viya Contemporary connection is the closest entry point. The gallery, which describes itself as the only South Asian contemporary art gallery in the Pacific Northwest, hosts the Sept. 17 events.

Those sessions are invitation-only. Specific programming details for the Bellevue venue were not publicly available as of Wednesday, Sept. 16.

The public opening night is Friday, Sept. 18, at the Central Library. That event is free. Highlights include a musical performance by Janani Madan with accompanists Jai Laskar and Grace Kaste, and art from Native American artist Shana Yellow Calf Lukinch.

Photographer Vicky Roy, who went from rag-picking and dishwashing in New Delhi to celebrated street photography, will also present.

Weekend sessions at Town Hall on Saturday, Sept. 19, and Sunday, Sept. 20, carry ticket prices from $45 to $80, the Seattle Times reported.

The lineup includes "Life of Pi" author Yann Martel, filmmaker Shekhar Kapur, historian Caroline Elkins and journalist Scott Anderson.

A Saturday panel called "The Memory Keepers" pairs Tacoma-based memoirist Tamiko Nimura and author Kristen Millares Young in conversation about family histories, womanhood and grief.

Festival executive director Alka Kurian will moderate. Seattle University professor and novelist Sonora Jha will speak about her novel "Intemperance."

Sunday's schedule includes a live Indian classical music performance and a marketplace at Town Hall offering coffee, tea, books, clothes and candles. Food trucks will be stationed outside.

Kurian, who teaches postcolonial literature and human rights at the University of Washington, said the festival has grown quickly.

Attendance roughly doubled from about 4,000 in its first year to 9,000 in 2025.

"You can't travel to different parts of the world and get an appointment with an author," Kurian told the Seattle Times. "So we create that opportunity."

Kurian said she hopes JLF Seattle will become a permanent fixture on the region's cultural calendar, with deeper ties to schools, universities, libraries and diverse communities.

Full schedules, venue details and tickets are available at jlflitfest.org/seattle.