The 50th edition of the Garo community's post-harvest festival featured 1,000 drummers and over 3,000 dancers at Tura.
The 50th Wangala Festival concluded on Saturday, November 14, 2026, at the Garo Heritage Village in Chibragre, near Tura, after entering the Guinness Book of World Records. According to the Deccan Herald, a team from Guinness World Records in London recorded a performance involving 1,000 drummers and over 3,500 dancers at the Wangala Playground.
The Golden Jubilee celebrations, which ran from November 11 to November 14, were organised by the 100 Drums Wangala Festival Committee. The event was attended by Union Minister of Culture and Tourism Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and Meghalaya Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma.
Guinness World Records adjudicator Richard Williams Stenning announced the record on Saturday evening.
The scale of the festival fulfilled a vision held by former Meghalaya Chief Minister PA Sangma to reach 1,000 drums. Chief Minister Sangma stated that the performance fulfilled his father's dream and noted that efforts should focus on preserving ancient culture and promoting it for tourism.
The Meghalaya government sanctioned Rs 25.50 crore for the celebrations, according to The Sentinel. This included Rs 20 crore for infrastructure development through the Meghalaya Public Works Department (PWD) and Rs 5.50 crore for the festival committee's budget.
Wangala is a post-harvest thanksgiving festival dedicated to Misi Saljong, the Garo Sun God of fertility. The festival originated in 1976, following a 1975 conversation involving Hubert Koksi Sangma, a Block Development Officer at Rongram.
