The 12th Pondicherry Heritage Festival (PHF) that gets under way on August 18 themed ‘Celebrating the heritage of Education', will have a diverse mix of events spanning restoration projects, craft exhibitions and institutional collaborations. Sunaina Mandeen, member of PondyCan and co-founder of People for Pondicherry’s Heritage said the theme was chosen as most residents remained oblivious to Puducherry’s long educational history. Most of the heritage school buildings including the Calve College, VOC School and the Pensionnat De Jeunes Filles have been restored. As part of the festival, the French Institute of Pondicherry (IFP) will host a special exhibition exploring the Indo-French heritage of education and knowledge exchange. Raghunath of Svarnim Puducherry, Sri Aurobindo Society, Bitasta Samantaray from PPH and Sithara Gerdes from Pondicherry Crafts Council participated.