UNESCO, Sahapedia join hands for 2nd India Heritage Walk Festival

The second edition of the India Heritage Walk Festival (IHWF) will be held across 37 cities in February, with the UNESCO joining hands with Sahapedia this year, organisers said Thursday.

The festival will be held from February 2-28, with a focus on heritage education and walks for people with special needs, festival director Vaibhav Chauhan told reporters here.

"We have added more tier-II and tier-III cities after getting a very good response last year. So, cities like Allahabad, Lucknow and Patna will feature in this edition," he said.

The IHWF, which received the PATA Gold Award 2018 for its maiden pan-India event, will kick-start with a heritage walk in Ahmedabad on February 2, focusing on the religious history and co-existence of multiple faiths in that city.

The inaugural day will also have parallel heritage walks in other cities, including Mumbai, Delhi, Varanasi, Guwahati, Pune, Udaipur, Kolkata, Puducherry and Chennai.

"This year, UNESCO has partnered with us for the festival and we are very fortunate, as this will help in expanding our reach to people on raising awareness on heritage preservation," he added.

For the second edition of IHWF, Sahapedia has collaborated with about 40 local-level partners to conduct its pan-India heritage walk festival. Some of the notable names include Kerala History Museum, the Kochi Heritage Project, INTACH Srinagar Chapter, Art Deco Mumbai, Maharana of Mewar Charitable Foundation and Oxford Bookstore.

Additionally, the festival bookings are powered by an online travel firm that connects tourists to certified guides in India, he said.

A primary objective of the festival, which will conclude with simultaneous walks in multiple cities, is to widen access to various aspects of India's tangible and intangible heritage, organisers said.

"Through 87 heritage walks and over 100 outreach events, which have been planned across the country, the event will explore the cultural fabric of India, focusing on museums, historically significant monuments and markets, natural landscapes, areas known for rich cuisine, and locations that are rooted in women-oriented narratives," Chauhan said.

"We want to democratise access to local history and culture. One might be living in the same neighbourhood for years, but there is a big chance that an important landmark, tucked away in a back alley, has been missed and forgotten. The IHWF is that opportunity to discover the hidden gems linked to the history of a place, town or city," he added.

Sahapedia is an open on line resource on the arts, cultures and heritage of India.