The Story
OrganizerShantiniketan's association with both high literary culture (Tagore) and living folk traditions (Baul, Patachitra, Kantha) makes it an unusual setting for a folk fair: it is simultaneously a UNESCO World Heritage Site (since 2023) and a working artistic community. Nabanna takes its name from 'new rice', the harvest festival that marks the onset of winter in Bengal, though its March-April timing is in the spring. It functions as both a marketplace for folk artists and craftspeople who depend on direct sales, and a cultural event that brings Shantiniketan's folk arts ecosystem to a broader audience.
Shantiniketan's recent UNESCO inscription as a World Heritage Site has increased global attention on its cultural ecosystem. A folk art fair that presents the living folk traditions alongside the Tagore heritage, rather than treating the Tagore legacy in isolation, reflects a more complete picture of Birbhum's cultural world. The two-week format allows for genuine marketplace economics that shorter festivals cannot provide for artisan vendors.
Visit the Nabanna folk art and craft fair to buy directly from the Baul singers, Patachitra scroll-painters and Kantha embroiderers of Bengal, in Shantiniketan, now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Set where Tagore's high culture meets living folk tradition, it is an authentic marketplace of rural Bengal's arts, supporting makers while immersing you in the region's craft heritage.
