Virasat Arts and Heritage Festival

Virāsat – heritage folklife festival is held annually for 15-days at Dehradun, Uttarakhand. The festival has been organized by REACH (Rural Entrepreneurship for Art Cultural Heritage) since the past 24 years. The festival presents the arts and culture of India in a unique, educative format that gives the young people and visitors an opportunity to learn about their roots, while also enjoying the arts. The objective of the festival is to spread awareness about the native wisdom, ecological approaches, knowledge systems and traditions of India. While the festival welcomes experimental genres, it focuses on the folk and classical arts of India and the folk culture of Uttarakhand. The festival has, in more than two decades of its existence, emerged as a unique model to acquaint youth with rural products and intertwines the same with legacy industries like music, dance and craft. Over a million people and 50,000 youth visit the festival to participate in its various events. Volunteers organize the festival, and all events are not-for-profit events. The festival has been instrumental in revitalizing several rural art forms, teetering on the brink of extinction due to a lack of audiences. The 2022 edition of the festival will also offer a rich kaleidoscope of India’s rich and varied cultural heritage. Special sections will be dedicated to young performers in the Virasat Saadhana program. Craft Workshops, Vintage Car Rally, Dance and Music Workshops etc. will keep audience enthralled over a fortnight of a deep dive into culture.