Festival Samaa Dubái 2026

• Day One, Saturday 5 December: Salman Ali (Sufi & Soulful) and Piyush Mishra (Poetry, Song & Storytelling)
  
  
• Day Two, Sunday 6 December: Ustad Shujaat Khan (Sitar & Ghazal), and a Day Two finale to be announced
  
  
• Other speakers and guests to be announced soon

About artist:

• Day One · Saturday, 5 December Piyush Mishra: Musical Story telling · Ballimaaraan (Day One

Piyush Mishra Musical Storytelling  Piyush Mishra is a rare meeting of actor, musician, poet and storyteller. A 1986 graduate of the National School of Drama, he began in theatre with the Act One group, working alongside Manoj Bajpayee and Gajraj Rao on landmark productions such as “Gagan Damama Bajiyo”. Theatre gave him his foundation; music gave him his voice. As a singer and lyricist he has written songs a generation knows by heart, from “Aarambh Hai Prachand” and “Ik Bagal” to “Husna” and “Arre Ruk Ja Re Bandeh”. As a playwright and screenwriter, he keeps returning to the questions that make us human.

At SAMAA, he takes the stage with Ballimaaraan, his own band, named after the Old Delhi lanes where Mirza Ghalib lived, so that Delhi, the city that shaped him, travels with him wherever he sings. Together they bring an evening of musical storytelling: his most loved compositions, and the stories behind them.

• Day Two · Sunday, 6 December Ustad Shujaat Khan: Classical Sitar & Ghazals (Day Two)

Ustad Shujaat Khan Classical & Ghazal Concert Grammy-nominated sitar maestro, son and disciple of the legendary Ustad Vilayat Khan, and heir to the Imdadkhani gharana. A child prodigy who gave his first concert at six, he is known for gayaki ang, the singing style of sitar. Over 60 albums, concerts from the Royal Albert Hall to Royce Hall, and a Grammy nomination for The Rain with Kayhan Kalhor and the ensemble Ghazal.

Khan Saab: The Grand Finale · Live in Concert (Day Two, new) Born Imran Khan in Kapurthala, Punjab, Khan Saab began singing at four at devotional gatherings in his village and has grown into one of the most loved voices of his generation. His heart belongs to the qawwali and Sufi tradition: Ustad Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan is his guiding light, he was gifted a kurta once worn by Nusrat sahab, and every year he marks Nusrat sahab’s birthday at his home in Phagwara with fellow singers.  

“Dil Pe Zakhm Khate Hain” from Dhurandhar 2, sung entirely by him, has made him a name across the country. His voice also rings out on “Aari Aari”, and before that came “Zindagi Tere Naal” and “Bismillah” with Salim-Sulaiman.

At SAMAA, Khan Saab closes the festival with The Grand Finale, his first grand open-air concert in Dubai.   Salman Ali: Sufi & Soulful Songs (Day One) Keep his current bio as it is.   Atika Farooqui: Nazim-e-Samaa (both evenings) Keep her current bio as it is. Change only the heading: “Atika Farooqui · Nazim-e-Samaa, host of both evenings · with her original performance Tu Hai Wohi, Ishq Hai Naya”.