WaterFest’26 Inauguration: Launching a Bioregional Journey for Water Stewardship

WaterFest’26 (WF’26) marks an important milestone as the festival enters its 10th anniversary phase, gradually evolving from an annual awareness event into a more sustained, bioregional platform for water stewardship. Rooted in the landscapes and communities of the Puducherry bioregion, WF’26 carries forward a decade of learning, partnerships, and on-ground practice, while opening pathways for deeper and long-term engagement with water systems and governance.

Anchored between World Wetlands Day (2 February) and World Water Day (22 March), WaterFest’26 is conceived as a living journey across the region’s waters—from ponds, tanks, and groundwater to wetlands, estuaries, mangroves, and the sea. Rather than viewing these as isolated systems, the festival foregrounds their ecological and social interconnections and emphasizes the shared responsibility of caring for them as a continuum.

The festival is guided by an integrative framework that brings together learning, grounded action, culture, exhibitions, and livelihoods. Orientations and workshops introduce participants to wetlands, biodiversity, aquifers, and coastal ecosystems. Hands-on activities such as field demonstrations, clean-ups, and environmental monitoring help translate knowledge into practice, while exhibitions and interactive displays make science, data, and ecological processes visible, tangible, and accessible to wider audiences.

The inaugural program on 2 February 2026 at Thengaithittu is designed as a preview and invitation to the wider WaterFest’26 journey. Set within an estuarine and mangrove landscape, the day features interactive displays on wetlands and estuaries, citizen science engagement using tools like iNaturalist and water-testing kits, youth-focused activities including kayak-based clean-ups and guided mangrove tours, and marine science experiences such as plankton observation, research equipment demonstrations, immersive learning modules, and short films on water and marine ecosystems. Early showcases of livelihoods, circular economy practices, and regeneration narratives provide insight into the deeper work that will unfold throughout the festival period.

A central pillar of WF’26, based in Bahour, is a 45-day integrated training on water hyacinth–based livelihoods and circular economy practices, moving beyond episodic clean-ups. The initiative reframes aquatic weeds from “waste” into ecological resources, enabling women’s groups and local communities to engage in diverse value-added applications including woven handicrafts, handmade paper, papier-mâché products, mushroom cultivation, and bio-based materials. At a broader landscape level, harvested biomass is utilized through composting and biochar for soil improvement and biogas generation for clean energy, thereby linking livelihoods with regenerative land, energy, and water management.

These practices collectively support pond and wetland regeneration through systematic biomass removal, improved water quality, and strengthened community stewardship of common water bodies. Water hyacinth emerges as a significant material for climate-responsive action by aiding carbon sequestration, enhancing soil health, improving energy efficiency, and reducing methane emissions from unmanaged decomposition. This demonstrates how localized circular economies can contribute meaningfully to climate mitigation and water conservation.

In parallel, WF’26 emphasizes household-scale water responsibility through awareness and demonstrations on rainwater harvesting and greywater treatment, encouraging every household to become an active participant in water conservation and groundwater recharge.

As WaterFest’26 progresses across the bioregion, activities extend through workshops, field visits, public art initiatives, film screenings, and youth engagement programs. Open to the general public—with a special focus on school students, college youth, community groups, and women’s collectives—the festival aims to move beyond awareness towards sustained care, collective action, and long-term transformation in how water is understood, managed, and lived with in the Puducherry bioregion.