The Pondicherry Heritage Festival is back for its 12th year, bringing together music, crafts, traditional games and community experiences under the theme Heritage of Education. Running from August 18 to 30, this year’s festival explores education beyond classrooms, looking at how culture, arts, Nature, and spirituality shape generations.

Among the highlights this year is a concert by Carnatic vocalist TM Krishna on August 20, from 7pm onwards, at Gratitude Heritage, 52 Rue Romain Rolland. Krishna will be accompanied by Praveen Sparsh on mridangam, Sayee Rakshith on violin and N Gurupasad on ghatam, bringing together an ensemble for an evening of classical music in a heritage setting.

“Pondicherry has a great heritage of education, starting from the ancient land of Bahour, which is one of the oldest parts of Pondicherry. There was a Sanskrit university or school there over 1,000 years ago. Subsequently, there has been significant development in education across its various aspects. So, when we celebrate anything, we always take an integral approach. Education is not just about schools, colleges and traditional forms of learning; it exists in so many different ways. All the events we are doing this year are, in some way, linked to education,” says Sunaina Mandeen, member of PondyCan and co-founder of People for Pondicherry’s Heritage.

For those interested in traditional crafts, the festival’s Craft Walk on August 29, offers an opportunity to explore village craft units around Kottakarai and Alankuppam, near Auroville. Scheduled from 2.30pm to 5.30pm, the walk offers a closer look at local making traditions and people who keep the skills alive.

The festival takes heritage out onto the streets with Veedhi Vilayattu, a street play event on August 30. Held from 8.30am to noon on Kamatchi Amman Koil Street, between MG Road and Mission Street, the event will revive traditional games and activities in a safe, communal setting. Families are encouraged to bring along children, friends and neighbours, as well as a traditional game, activity or even a bedtime story shared by their grandparents.

The festival’s focus on education is rooted in Punducherry’s long history as a centre of learning, with institutions such as the Pensionnat des Jeunes Filles, Lycée Français, Petit Séminaire, Calvé College and VOC School forming part of its educational heritage.

The Pondicherry Heritage Festival is a volunteer-led initiative organised by People for Pondicherry’s Heritage, INTACH Pondicherry and PondyCAN, fostering pride in Puducherry’s identity and bringing residents, experts, historians and visitors together to celebrate its shared heritage.

The Pondicherry Heritage Festival will be on from August 18 to 30. For more information on programmes, follow @pondicherryheritage on Instagram.

Published - August 13, 2026 12:52 pm IST