Bali Jatra UK 2026 to Celebrate Women's Empowerment & Odia Heritage

By: Women Entrepreneurs Review Team | Tuesday, 10 November 2026

The Odia community is gearing up for its third annual Odisha festival in Britain, with Bali Jatra UK 2026 capturing the essence of women empowerment, entrepreneurship and cultural heritage of Odisha. The event will be held from 12 noon to 10 pm, November 28, 2026 at Riddlesdown Collegiate, South Croydon, London and organised by Odisha Society of UK CIC, with support from Earthnest. The festival would be a platform for women professionals, entrepreneurs, artists, families and community organizations to come together and celebrate cultural identity and recognise the contributions of women to society.

One of the highlights of the year will be the attempt to create the biggest Odia cultural flashmob outside the country. The performance is to be done by the children of age 07 years and above and will include their adult participants in the Odissi, Sambalpuri and Dhemsa. In this manner, they hope to share their traditional arts with younger generations and help them appreciate and be proud of their cultural heritage.

Key Highlights:

• Bali Jatra UK dedicates its 2026 edition to women's empowerment.
• Cultural flashmob brings three traditional Odia dance forms together
• Over 60 stalls will showcase businesses, arts and entrepreneurship

This year, the theme of the celebration will be women empowerment and special focus will be given to women balancing the roles of their work, entrepreneurship, family and community. It will honor and celebrate women from various fields of activity in the healthcare, education, business, arts and leadership sectors and those involved in maintaining cultural heritage.

Sweta Mohanty, the spokesperson for Bali Jatra UK 2026, emphasised the need to acknowledge women's multifaceted roles and roles played.

“This year Bali Jatra is dedicated to women”. Women keep on bearing more and more responsibilities in all walks of life. They are entrepreneurs, doctors, professionals, educators, artists and community leaders, as well as mothers and caregivers.

For many kids, their mom is their first teacher and their first link to language, culture and tradition, and this Bali Jatra is our way of honoring each and every woman helping to make the next generation and to sustain our culture.

Dr Bibhuti Bhusan Pattnayak, who was one of the main organisers, stressed the need of retaining cultural heritage among the younger generation. The flashmob is not only a record attempt, but it also unites families and communities in traditional dances, he explained.

“You are proud of being an Odia, I see you here as ambassadors of your culture, when you are away from India you have an opportunity, and you have a responsibility, to make people aware of this culture in the world and give your kids the awareness that they are from Odia culture.”

Over 60 international and community stalls are anticipated to present, offering opportunities for the entrepreneurs, women-led businesses, food producers, artists and cultural institutions to present their products. The process will also seek to promote the visibility of businesses, business networking and collaboration.

Organiser Partha Panda pointed out the growing significance of the festival in bringing business and the communities together. He mentioned Bali Jatra is no longer just a cultural celebration, but also an opportunity for entrepreneurship, community engagement and international cooperation.

The word "Bali Jatra" means "Voyage to Bali" and is a reminiscence of the sea voyages of ancient merchants of Odisha (Oriya) to Bali, Java, Sumatra, Borneo and Sri Lanka for business and cultural exchange. The festival was started in Britain in 2024 and has since become an annual event dedicated to promoting cultural heritage and community engagement.

The 2026 edition is supported by organizations such as Earthnest, Global South Corridor, Pessa, Paymatrix, Amadeus, Dreamland Trips, Mo Gar and Bank of India, with the goal of showcasing Odisha's heritage to a wider audience and celebrating the role of women, entrepreneurs and future cultural ambassadors.