SOCIAL, India’s beloved neighbourhood café-bar, is marking Pride 2026 with Satrangi Mela, its annual queer-forward cultural platform that will take place across SOCIAL and antiSOCIAL outposts through June, July and August. Bringing together the LGBTQIA+ community and allies through performances, marketplace pop-ups, workshops, drag showcases, music programming, and community-led experiences, this year’s edition will continue SOCIAL’s larger commitment to creating inclusive spaces through the year, while placing a more intentional spotlight on trans voices, creators, performers, entrepreneurs, and community leaders.
A Year-Round Platform for Queer Expression
For SOCIAL, inclusion has never been limited to a season or a calendar moment. Built around the idea of belonging, SOCIAL has always been shaped as a space where people can show up as themselves, find community, and feel at home in the everyday. Across its outposts, the brand has consistently opened up room for different communities to gather, collaborate, perform, create, and be seen.
That belief found a more defined community platform in Satrangi Mela, which began in 2021 as a way to extend SOCIAL’s idea of a safe, expressive space to the queer community in a more intentional way. Over the years, it has grown from a Pride-season celebration into one of SOCIAL’s most meaningful cultural platforms, creating room for queer artists, performers, creators, entrepreneurs, drag talent, musicians, workshop facilitators, and community voices across cities.
Also, returning for the second consecutive year, M·A·C Cosmetics joins Satrangi Mela with a series of masterclasses celebrating the transformative power of makeup. Led by M·A·C’s experts, these sessions will inspire creativity, celebrate individuality, and encourage self-expression while creating an inclusive space for learning and experimentation.
While Satrangi Mela finds special resonance during Pride season, its spirit extends far beyond Pride Month. Through the year, SOCIAL continues to work with queer artists, performers, creators, entrepreneurs, collectives, and community leaders across formats, with several events carrying the “Powered by Satrangi Mela” identity. From queer artist markets and drag showcases to workshops, open mics, music-led evenings, social mixers, community marketplaces, and performance-led nights, the platform has become a consistent way for SOCIAL to hold space for queer expression beyond a single month of visibility.
Spotlighting Trans Voices in 2026
This year, while continuing to celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community in all its diversity, Satrangi Mela 2026 will place a more intentional spotlight on the transgender community, honouring their stories, creativity, resilience, and contribution to culture. This focus is not a departure from the platform’s inclusive spirit, but a deeper expression of it. It is an effort to meaningfully represent a community that continues to face disproportionate barriers to visibility, acceptance, employment, healthcare, and safety, while also celebrating the many ways in which trans voices shape art, culture, performance, entrepreneurship, and public life.
“Satrangi Mela has always been one of the most heartfelt expressions of what SOCIAL stands for, community, creativity, inclusion, and belonging. For us, Pride is not limited to a month or a moment. It is about consistently creating spaces where people can show up as themselves, find connection, and feel celebrated. This year, as we continue to welcome the entire LGBTQIA+ community and allies, we are also consciously placing a stronger spotlight on trans voices and stories. It is a celebration of visibility, joy, and solidarity, created with the community, for the community,” said Divya Aggarwal, Chief Growth Officer, Impresario Entertainment & Hospitality Pvt. Ltd.
Community & Programming Across Cities
Satrangi Mela 2026 will bring together a vibrant mix of community and programming events. Each edition will feature a marketplace spotlighting queer and trans entrepreneurs, workshops that encourage participation and allyship, drag and performance showcases, and music programming designed to create a joyful, high-energy celebration. As always, the marketplace will remain free of charge for community members setting up stalls and booths, ensuring that the platform continues to support visibility, access, and participation.
Whether it is a drag performer owning the stage, a trans artist sharing their craft, a queer entrepreneur building visibility through the marketplace, or allies showing up to learn and celebrate, Satrangi Mela is designed as a space where identity meets joy and community takes centre stage. The focus remains on meaningful representation over performative messaging, creating an environment rooted in safety, self-expression, shared experiences, and cultural connection.
Upcoming schedule:
• 28th June: Indiranagar SOCIAL, Bangalore
• 28th June: Sector 7 SOCIAL, Chandigarh
• 12th July: antiSOCIAL, Mumbai
• 19th July: Parkstreet SOCIAL, Kolkata
As Satrangi Mela travels across cities, its spirit remains the same: a celebration co-created with the community, shaped by the people it represents, and powered by the belief that everyone deserves a space where they feel seen, respected, and at home.