The Festival has been practiced traditionally by the Garos since times immemorial. It is performed annually in almost all the non-Christian villages of Garo Hills, but the time and date of celebration vary from village to village. However, due to the impact of modern civilization and Foreign Culture,the Wangala, which is the cultural identity of the Garos could be seen fast disappearing. So, in order to protect, preserve and promote this cultural identity, a group of Garo intellectuals put their heads together and decided to organize the Wangala Festival on modern lines. A group of 30 dancers with 10 drums form a contingent and 300 dancers make up the “Hundred Drums Wangala Festival”. The first Hundred Drums Wangla Festival was successfully organized on December 6th and 7th, 1976 at Asanang, the Headquaters of Rongram Development Block. Since then the Hundred Drums Wangala Festival has been organized in the second week of November every year and the Festival has grown over the years under the patronage of Government of Meghalaya and Festival Organization.

Dalseng Sangma