The inaugural edition of the two-day festival on Mar. 28 and 29, 2026, brought stellar sets from veterans like Avadhoot Gupte as well as recent stars like Sai Godbole and Shreyas x Vedang.
The first edition of RADA Festival told us something Marathi music has been trying to say for a while now: it has enough range, depth, and talent to fill its own stage, and make it a big one. As cultural platform BhaDiPa’s co-founder Sarang Sathaye told us, “Because Pune hosts NH7 [Weekender] and many large festivals, including comedy festivals, Marathi music is often played only in a small corner. So we felt there should be a big stage dedicated entirely to Marathi music.” RADA was that stage. And also, fittingly, a celebration of BhaDiPa’s own decade-long run.
Day One: Building the Vibe
The festival opened under a brutal 3 PM summer sun, with Dhol Pathak, a traditional Maharashtrian troupe of drummers, setting the tone for the festival before the crowd fully arrived. The energy was infectious from the start, which is exactly what you need when you’re asking people to commit to a full festival day in that kind of heat.
The opening hip-hop sets by Leo, Azad, Ajit, and Rasal got things moving, but it was WhyFal, aka Suyog Risbud, who gave the first genuinely memorable performance of the weekend. Fusing music, singing, and visuals, he traced the narrative arc of his thought-provoking musical comedy show Sutarpheni. It was approachable, heartfelt storytelling, navigating everything from shutting morning phone alarms and doomscrolling to leaving one’s hometown for the big city, the tension of making it there, and the ache of the friendships and family you leave behind.
The evening shifted into nostalgia mode with BhaDiPa’s in-memoriam segment for their cult series Casting Couch, a chaotic, warm, and sometimes hilarious tribute to 10 years of content that has arguably made Marathi internet culture what it is. Actors Amey Wagh, Nipun Dharmadhikari, along with Sarang Sathaye, took the stage, first getting roasted by the host before Wagh reclaimed the reins with his trademark timing. The segment peaked with an official Shraddhanjali, where the trio placed a ceremonial garland on the iconic sofa from the podcast, then sat on it together one final time for a silent 30 seconds in an absurd yet evocative performance.
Comedy sets from Sahil Sheikh and Siddharth Shetty carried the crowd through to sundown, at which point Year Down stepped on stage and turned the energy up several notches with crowd favorites including “Yeda Yung” by Yung DSA and “Mazya Sonya” by Swager Boy. What followed was a relay of hip-hop sets — Gaurav Malode, Mahi G, Srushti Tawade, 100RBH, Yung DSA, 99 Side, and others — each bringing their own flavor.
Two sets stood out in the second half of the night. Content creator-turned-rapper Danny Pandit hit the stage like a full blast, performing his viral tracks “Badhshaa Boy” and the impossibly catchy “Zat Pat Pata Pat,” which the crowd had clearly been waiting for. The rapper-producer pair Shreyas x Vedang brought the first day to a close in their own way. Shreyas arrived with a distinct swagger that showcased just how well he had honed his Marathi rap, rolling through an extended version of “Paristithi,” “Pankha Phaast” and others before landing on the explosive hit “Taambdi Chaamdi.”
Day Two: Wider and Deeper
The second day of RADA Festival opened with West African Djembe specialists Yudi Drum Circle performing various percussive traditions, including Morbiyassa and Malinke, plus a set of African songs that hit in an unexpectedly good way.
Keeping the momentum going, a more local, Marathi element came back to RADA with rapper Hruday Satam performing “Premrog (Radha)” and “590z,” as he ably warmed up the crowd. The comedy sets from Fatima Ayesha and Ganesh Joshi did feel a bit uneven, though both had their moments: Ganesh touched on LGBTQIA+ themes, and Fatima’s observations about Indian mothers landed with the familiarity of something everyone in the crowd had lived through.
The RADA Stage also hosted Nistyaach Charcha, a podcast-style conversation where Prajakta Koli (Mostlysane), CA Rachna Ranade, and Sayalee Marathe joined Amuk Tamuk podcast duo Omkar Jadhav and Shradul Kadam to talk about Marathi identity, their own experiences with the culture, and what it means that a festival like RADA exists at all. It was one of those honest and emotionally grounded conversations that could have easily gone on for longer, even turning introspective when panellists like Ranade touched upon long-held stereotypes around the Marathi community being risk-averse. She even shared a piece of advice she once received while launching her dedicated Marathi channel: “Hindi kalta, pan Marathi manala bhidta” (I understand Hindi, but Marathi touches my heart). It was a simple line, but it echoed the larger sentiment the panel kept circling back to: no matter how far you go, some part of you is always finding its way back home.
Just Neel Things and Shubham Jadhav followed this up with poetry-led sets that were melodic and relatable. Poetry-music collective Akshar Tuzech Aahe also performed, rounding out what had become a thoughtful, literary portion of the afternoon.
DJ-producer Kratex took over with a sundowner set, delivering the kind of performance that had the hype and heft of a headliner, even if he wasn’t billed as one. Kratex later told us, “You need to go out of that box and be shameless about the art form and try to be yourself.” That’s exactly what the set felt like. Singer-composer Shubhangii Kedar followed with some strong tracks before the final stretch of the evening arrived.
Singer, actor and content creator Sai Godbole opened with a tribute to her grandfather, performing his iconic “Hi Chal Turu Turu” and “Ek Lajara Na Sajara Mukhda” before closing with a playful rendition of Ajay-Atul’s famed hit “Apsara Aali,” which won over the crowd. Yashraj Mukhate, for his part, turned the festival grounds into a full dancefloor with meme bangers like “Tuada Kutta Tommy,” “Pawri Ho Rahi Hain” and “Bing Bing Boo.” For the finale, Godbole and Mukhate, along with seasoned Marathi singer Nagesh Morvekar, came together to perform the festival’s title track “RADA.” It was the peak moment of the festival, and brought a kind of convergence that felt worthy of a closing track.
It was Avadhoot Gupte who held the crowd till the very end. The Marathi OG had everyone in his grip from the first note, running through a set of nostalgic, inescapable tracks including “Kande Pohe,” “Yed Lagala,” “Meri Madhubala,” and “Shitti Wajali Gaadi Sutali” with the ease and command of someone who built the template everyone else at this festival grew up hearing.
Across two days, RADA Festival trusted Marathi culture to take up space in a way that felt intentional rather than othering. Comedy, poetry, podcasts, musical theater, and food stalls selling vada pav, kaande bhaje, and misal pav were embedded into the very fabric of the festival itself. The crowd cut across generations, from older folks to Gen Z, but what truly stood out was how every cheer and chant almost instinctively came in Marathi. The programming didn’t flatten culture into a single sound or aesthetic. Instead, it embraced everything from hip-hop to natak-style humor, devotional nostalgia to internet absurdity, effectively recreating the ecosystem that Marathi culture truly thrives in.
As BhaDiPa’s co-founder and Canada-origin, India-based creator-turned-entrepreneur Paula McGlynn summed up about the weekend, “I feel like we’re just seeing the beginning of a Marathi pop culture explosion. The missing piece has really been Marathi music. And I think the more we’re able to show Marathi culture and music within Maharashtra, the more it’s going to spread outside.” RADA’s first edition made a convincing case that the piece is no longer missing and now has its own stage.