The Story
OrganizerThe India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF) is a pan-India celebration of the country's cultural and natural heritage through guided walks, launched in 2018 by Sahapedia, the digital arts-and-culture encyclopaedia, in association with Yes Culture. Held principally through February, it spans dozens of cities from the metros to smaller heritage towns, offering curated walks through old quarters, monuments, markets, neighbourhoods and natural sites led by historians, conservationists and community experts. Designed to be inclusive and participatory, the festival invites students, travellers, residents, photographers, children and differently-abled participants alike to experience their cities and regions through the lens of living heritage.
The India Heritage Walk Festival is significant as one of the largest coordinated heritage-awareness initiatives in the country, using the simple, accessible format of the guided walk to reconnect people with the histories embedded in their everyday surroundings. By spreading across many cities, including smaller and lesser-documented towns, and by foregrounding local guides and community narratives, it democratises heritage interpretation and builds public constituencies for conservation. It has helped popularise the heritage walk as a mode of cultural engagement and strengthened Sahapedia's wider mission of documenting and sharing India's cultural diversity.
Join the India Heritage Walk Festival to discover your own and other Indian cities on foot, through curated walks led by historians and local experts across dozens of towns each February. Inclusive by design and welcoming to all, it turns monuments, old lanes, markets and natural sites into living classrooms, offering an accessible, participatory way to experience the country's heritage first-hand and to support its conservation.
