Festivals in the Northeast region are integrated expressions of culture, heritage and co-existence with nature. Promoting festival tourism in the region can promote unique culture, rich heritage of indigenous communities of the region and boost sustainable tourism. Improvement in connectivity has led to a significant surge in footfalls at iconic destinations of the region. A boost in tourists’ arrival has also led to growth in the hospitality industry, with demand for accommodation in the star category as well as budget hotels increasing manifold. The region has over 400 different tribes and communities, each with their distinct language, dialect, food culture and expertise in handloom and handicraft. Cultural festivals of different communities are basically pre- and post-harvest festivals which combine community festivities of dance, feasting and merrymaking. Homestays offer cultural tourists the opportunity to experience the unique culture, heritage and local agriculture and allied activities from close quarters. As some of the communities live in proximity to nature and their cultural expressions have been inspired by nature and the environment, tourists visiting their places get the rare opportunity to learn lessons on how to make nature conservation an integral part of their way of life from these communities. Commercial sustainability of homestays run by tourism entrepreneurs in different places across the region is dependent on a steady but regulated flow of cultural and eco-tourists. Common Facility Centres for handloom and handicraft in different villages can offer tourists the opportunity to experience the expertise of indigenous women weavers and how they weave nature-inspired designs and motifs on their traditional attire as well as modern dresses. Finding handicrafts of cane and bamboo demonstrated in such CFCs can provide great attraction to cultural tourists who are keen to experience and learn cultural practices among different communities. Governments, local bodies or village cooperatives creating CFCs for local weavers and artisans to boost handloom and handicraft production can serve the dual purpose of showcasing unique cultural practices to tourists. While this can be a round-the-year opportunity, festivals bring the opportunity for tourists and visitors also to understand the essence of a particular hand-woven product or handicraft item in relation to the festival and heritage of different communities. The Rongali Bihu festival, for instance, provides the tourist the opportunity to understand the significance of different types of Gamosa, different motifs on it and why Assam has the highest number of handlooms in the country and what brought the Geographical Indication Tag to Gamosas. The festival tourism can also help the tourists understand the significance of Assam’s climate in the context of climate change when they get an opportunity to experience Muga silk or Eri silk rearing and how the cocoons are reeled into yarns to be used by the weavers to weave various handloom products. There is a marked difference between the demonstration and display of these traditional practices in an exhibition organised as part of a curated music, food or cultural festival to promote tourism. Homestays and CFCs can give tourists the real-life experience of living cultural practices of different communities as part of festivals for which they would be keen to spend money. Besides the homestays offering local food, the tourists also get the opportunity to experience the local cuisines and learn about their agricultural practices, foraging, etc. With the central government giving a big push to highway, railway, airway and waterway connectivity in the region and the states prioritising connecting villages and towns, including the remote places, with better roads to connect with the highways and railways, the opportunities of promoting sustainable festival tourism and homestays across the region have increased manifold. This can augment the income of farmers, weavers and artisans’ households, as tourism activities raise demand for local food products, handloom and handicraft items, besides local transportation and accommodation. It also gives rise to the opportunity for rural youth to choose the career of tourist guides and interpreters – of language as well as culture and heritage interpreters. Understanding the carrying capacity of different places identified for promoting cultural tourism is crucial for making festival tourism initiatives sustainable. Tourism activities in such places cannot sustain mass and unregulated tourism. Instead of imposing a one-size-fits-all tourism model in these places, the communities need to be encouraged to develop their own models of eco-friendly festival tourism and homestay norms so that it does not intrude into their own private spaces and infringe on the community’s cultural codes. Tour operators understanding this requirement will be crucial to explain to tourists they bring to take part in festival tourism that tourism products will vary from one place to another, festival of one community to another. Tourism and other departments can play the role of facilitators, while communities in different villages must be the primary stakeholders of festival tourism models. Successful and sustainable festival tourism has high potential to strengthen the rural economy in the Northeast region.