The 30th “Virasat” Art and Heritage Festival 2025 will begin on Saturday, October 4th, at the Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar Stadium in Kaulagarh, Dehradun. The 15-day festival will begin on the first day with a performance by Ustad Amjal Ali Khan, a renowned Sarod maestro in the Indian music world, and will continue until October 18th.
This information was provided by RK Singh, founding member and general secretary of REACH, at a press conference held at a hotel on Rajpur Road on Friday. He stated that the main objective of the event is to make young people aware of Indian heritage. Virasat is a platform that has given recognition to many local artists. This effort will continue this year as well. He explained that the 30th edition of the Virasat Festival is dedicated to the memory of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima eighty years ago. Virasat is an annual cultural festival showcasing India’s rich artistic traditions and heritage. The journey of Virasat, which began in 1995 with the support of the country’s Maharatna company ONGC, is completing 30 years of preserving and promoting the rich cultural heritage of India and other countries.
Highlights of the 15-day festival include a Heritage Showcase session, where young artists from Dehradun schools and colleges will showcase their talents, and craft workshops led by skilled artisans, a Heritage Quiz Competition, a Craft Tracer Hunt, and many other activities. Virasat also hosts special sessions for students with disabilities. The grand stage is modeled after another historical site in India: the Sun Temple, built by Kashmiri King Lalitaditya Muktapida of the Karkota dynasty. The festival will feature stalls showcasing unique handlooms and crafts, pottery, woodwork, metal crafts, leather crafts, and many other items from various states.
Additionally, a vintage car and bike rally, a heritage quiz, a photography competition, and talks on music, film, history, and literature by experts such as historian Sohail Hasmi, critic Shailja Khanna, artist Jatin Das, filmmaker Anubhav Sinha, and journalists Rajesh Badal and Shashi Keswani will also enrich and delight the audience.
The event will showcase a variety of folk and classical arts from across India and neighboring countries, including Chholiya and other folk dances and folk songs by the Upreti sisters, the famous folk drama Chakravyuh from Uttarakhand, folk music and dance from Gujarat, Goa, Sri Lanka, Kyrgyzstan, and Belarus, Bharatanatyam from Tamil Nadu, Kuchipudi and Kathak from Andhra Pradesh.