From a rustic tradition to world recognition, Meghalaya’s Wangala festival marks a flourishing heritage
Wangala, a harvest festival of the Garo community, went from a small tradition with less than 10 drummers to an organised event with 100 drums in 1976; fifty years later, the farmers’ event saw 1,500 dancers and 1,000 drummers celebrating the end of the period of toil in a record-breaking performance
Meghalaya’s Garo drummers create a Guinness World Record on the 50th anniversary of the Wangala festival with a 1,000-member ensemble on November 14, 2026.
The biggest organised harvest festival of Meghalaya’s Garo community expanded from a hundred to a thousand drums on its golden jubilee on Saturday (November 14, 2026), creating a world record.
Also known as a ‘100 drums festival’, the festival of farmers is the occasion when the tribal people offer sacrifices to please their main deity Saljong – the sun God. The harvest festival marks the end of a period of toil and signifies the onset of winter.
Called dama in the Garo tongue, each drum is almost 4 feet long. Wangala was given a formal shape in 1976 after a Block Development Officer, who felt the drumbeats were losing their reverberating sound, scouted 10 dama players and organised a Wangala at the Chandmary Field in Tura, the second-largest urban centre in the State. Captain Williamson A. Sangma, then Chief Minister, felt 10 drums were not enough and organised 100 drummers for a repeat festival in December 1976 at Asananggre, about 16 km from Tura.
Fifty years later, about 1,500 female dancers, 1,000 drummers, and other participants from across five Garo Hills districts assembled at Wangala A’dam (Wangala Ground) near Tura for the record-breaking performance for the grand finale at the conclusion of the four-day Wangala festival on Saturday.
A representative of Guinness World Records announced the new achievement after the 1,000-drum ensemble ended in the afternoon.
“This is a proud moment for the Garo people. We felt it was appropriate to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Wangala grandly. The outcome is a world record,” Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma said.
Union Minister of Art and Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the chief guest at the event, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s focus on preserving cultural heritage has elevated traditional festivals across India, resulting in record-breaking performances.
“I am fortunate to have participated in this historic Wangala, a festival of thanksgiving. In the coming days, it will become an international festival like [Nagaland’s] Hornbill,” he said.
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