The Artists of Palghar At the heart of the Palghar Living Heritage Festival are the local Adivasi artists and cultural practitioners who continue to carry the region’s traditions across generations. Their music, dance, theatre and craft are closely woven into community life, seasonal celebrations, rituals and the natural landscape of Palghar. The festival brings together artists who practise traditions such as Tarpa, Pawri, Gavari, Kambadi and Ghor Nritya, each reflecting different aspects of community life and collective celebration. The rhythmic sounds of traditional instruments accompany dances that bring people together, while Bohada, a traditional masked theatre form, combines songa mask-making, music, movement and storytelling to bring mythological and cultural narratives to life. Alongside performing artists, the festival also creates space for Warli painters and bamboo craft artists, whose practices reflect the communities’ relationship with their surroundings and traditional knowledge. Through their performances and creative practices, these artists offer visitors an opportunity to experience Palghar’s living heritage directly from the communities who continue to practise and preserve it. The festival celebrates them not simply as performers, but as carriers of cultural knowledge, memory and traditions that remain an integral part of community life.