Aitihya Museum Festival returns to Assam State Museum, Nov 25-29

The Assam State Museum in Guwahati will host the third edition of Aitihya: The Museum Festival 2026 from November 25 to 29, The Sentinel reported on Monday.

The five-day festival is being organised by the Directorate of Museums, Assam, together with the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA), New Delhi, under the state's Department of Indigenous and Tribal Faith and Culture. Aitihya means "heritage" in Assamese.

Exhibitions on cinema and literature

The organisers plan a series of curated and temporary exhibitions. Two have been named so far:

• Framing Assam, which traces the history and evolution of Assamese cinema.
• Ruup Barna Bak, which looks at the literary history of the region.

Officials said the idea is to turn the museum into a lively, interactive space that people from every walk of life feel comfortable visiting, rather than a place only for scholars.

Free embroidery workshop for students

A key attraction this year is "Needle and Thread", a five-day hand-embroidery workshop for schoolchildren. It will run alongside the festival from November 25 to 29 and is open to students of Classes 5 to 8.

Registration for the workshop closes on November 15 and can be done at the museum's help desk. Parents and schools interested in the sessions should register their children before that date.

Walks, films and folk evenings

The full programme also includes:

• documentary screenings
• panel discussions led by experts
• guided heritage walks around historic landmarks of Guwahati
• evening performances of folk music and dance

According to the organisers, the festival will also use digital displays alongside the traditional showcases, and hopes to draw young people towards careers in heritage management and museum work.

About the Assam State Museum

The Assam State Museum sits beside Dighalipukhuri tank in the heart of Guwahati. Its galleries hold sculptures, inscriptions, manuscripts, textiles, arms and everyday objects from across Assam, along with a reconstructed village section showing traditional homes and crafts of the state's communities.

Entry details and the day-wise schedule for Aitihya are expected to be announced by the Directorate of Museums closer to the festival. NEInsider will update this story when the full programme is released.