The Story
OrganizerIn the far east of India, in a quiet valley of Arunachal Pradesh reachable only by a long drive from the nearest airport, sits Dambuk, the orange bowl of the state, where farmers have grown fragrant Khasi Mandarin oranges since the 1970s. Each December, this remote village transforms into the stage for one of India's most unusual festivals: the Orange Festival of Adventure & Music, often called India's first adventure-and-music festival.
Conceived in 2015 by Abu Tayeng, a local farmer and senior bureaucrat, and backed by the state and central government to promote tourism and the region's celebrated oranges, OFAM was built around a simple idea, to draw travellers to a beautiful but little-known corner of the Northeast by combining three things they love: music, adventure and nature. Over four days, its days are given to high-octane activity, all-terrain rides, dirt biking, zip-lining, paragliding, white-water rafting and hot-air ballooning across the Dibang Valley's rivers, forests and hills, and its evenings to live music, with rock bands, indie and folk acts, DJs and Bollywood headliners performing under the stars. Between the concerts and the adrenaline, visitors walk the orange orchards, taste fresh fruit and orange delicacies, and encounter the culture and cuisine of Arunachal's tribes.
From its early editions to recent ones (the festival ran from 18 to 21 December in 2025), OFAM has grown into a fixture of the Northeast's festival calendar alongside events like the Hornbill Festival, drawing travellers from across India and abroad to a place they might never otherwise visit. In using culture, adventure and agriculture together to open up a remote region, it has become both a celebration of Dambuk's oranges and a model for festival-led tourism in the Northeast.
OFAM is significant as a distinctive model of festival-led cultural tourism in a remote part of the Northeast, and as a celebration of Arunachal Pradesh's agricultural and tribal heritage. By combining music, adventure sports and the region's famed oranges, it has drawn national and international attention to Dambuk and the Dibang Valley, promoting the state's tourism, showcasing tribal culture and cuisine, and supporting the local orange economy. As one of India's first festivals to fuse adventure and music at this scale, it has also carved out a distinctive identity in the country's festival landscape and helped position the Northeast as a cultural and adventure destination.
OFAM matters as a festival that brings visibility, tourism and economic opportunity to a remote region while celebrating its culture and produce. It opens up the Dibang Valley to travellers, sustains attention on Arunachal's tribal heritage and oranges, and offers a distinctive fusion of music and adventure. For the Atlas, it is a notable node in mapping the Northeast's festivals and festival-led cultural tourism.
