DAYTIMERS - Mehfil at Royal Albert Hall

DAYTIMERS, a collective at the heart of the re-emerging Asian Underground, presents Mehfil, their event series spotlighting and celebrating South Asian visual arts, live performance, poetry, and spoken word.

After a string of sold out shows cementing Mehfil as one of the most sought-after poetry experiences in the capital, the series now makes its way to the Royal Albert Hall's Elgar Room, platforming South Asian poetry and spoken word, and inviting along some of London's brightest names in the poetry scene.

Hosted by Rohan Rakhit, this event will feature poetry by Naila Ali, Rithvik Andugula, Amani Saeed and Rishi Rian. This will be followed by a DJ set from Zar, exploring historical South Asian subcontinental musical forms.

The Mehfil event series draws inspiration from historic mehfil celebrations traditionally presented in the homes or palaces of royalty or nobility. These evenings typically combine elements of poetry, Qawwali, Sufi, Hindustani classical music, and much more, performed for audiences in often intimate settings.

Mehfil have previously hosted events at Somerset House, Rich Mix, Colour Factory, Rally Festival, The William Morris Gallery, and Conway Hall in collaboration with Camden Council and Bloomsbury Festival. We’ve featured some of the diaspora’s most talented spoken word artists on our stages including actor Azan Ahmed, playwright Zia Ahmed, novelist S.S.Haque, Zahra Ahmad, and storyteller/artist RAIN (fka Reeta Loi). The event's live musical interludes offer bespoke performances, having been previously graced by Punjabi sufi folk singers Grewal Twins, Sons Of Kemet alumnus Shabaka Hutchings, Indo-Jazz percussionist Sarathy Kowar, and many others.