Bihu Dance & Cultural Evening

Experience Assam's joyful folk dance, music and costumes, live in April or at a cultural evening.

At a glance

Difficulty: Easy
Duration: 1–2 hours (show) or 1–3 days (festival)
Best season: Mid-April (Rongali Bihu); mid-January (Magh Bihu); cultural shows year-round
Base: Guwahati / Kaziranga / Sivasagar (Statewide)
Permits: No permit needed.

About this experience

Bihu is Assam's great cultural celebration, marking the agricultural cycle three times a year. The liveliest is Rongali (Bohag) Bihu in mid-April, the Assamese New Year, when villages and towns erupt with Bihu dance and song. Young men and women in golden muga and red-patterned costumes dance to the beat of the dhol drum, the pepa (buffalo-horn pipe), gogona and taal cymbals, with fast, joyful movements celebrating spring and fertility.

Magh (Bhogali) Bihu in mid-January is the harvest festival of feasting and bonfires, and Kati (Kongali) Bihu in October is a quieter festival of lamps in the fields. Visiting during Rongali Bihu lets you join community events, Bihu stage competitions (husori and mancha Bihu), and household feasts with pitha rice cakes.

Outside festival time, we arrange cultural evenings with local troupes at Kaziranga resorts or in Guwahati, where you can watch Bihu and other Assamese dances such as Jhumur (from the tea communities) and learn a few steps yourself.