Bhangra is a fusion of music, singing and the beat of the dhol drum, a single stringed instrument called the iktar (ektara), the tumbi and an instrument reminiscent of an enlarged pair of tongs called chimta. The accompanying songs are small couplets written in the Punjabi language called bolis. They relate to harvest celebration, love, patriotism or current social issues.

Today the word bhangra is more associated with the style of dance pop music derived from the above mentioned musical accompaniment. The dhol's smaller cousin, the dholaki, is sometimes used instead of or in addition to the dhol. Additional percussion, including tabla, is frequently used in bhangra.

Bhangra has always been popular amongst Punjabi people all over the world, but it has enjoyed a resurgence over the last ten years or so. Its raw traditional sound is often supplemented with contemporary musical styles. In its more recent history, bhangra has been fused with disco, reggae, techno, house, ragga and now jungle. However, the most well-known fusion is with hip hop and rap, which became extremely successful among both Indian and European youth after Punjabi MC collaborated with the well-known rapper Jay-Z on a version of one of Panjabi MC's songs. Then, groups like Bombay Sqaud made recordings which combined bhangra vocals and melodies with hip-hop beats. In fact, these new styles have been so successful that modern bhangra is now being re-exported back to India. Most of this tends to come from the UK Desi scene, a subculture found amongst the South Asian diaspora. 

The Bhangra is perhaps the most virile form of Indian Folk Dances. Bhangra is considered the king of dances. Springing from the land of five rivers, it abundantly reflects the vigor, the vitality, the leaven of exuberance, and the hilarity permeated among the rural folk by the promise of a bumper crop. The Bhangra season starts with the wheat sowing and then every full moon attracts teams of young men in every village who dance for hours in open fields. The dancers begin to move in a circle around the drummer, who now and then lifts the two sticks, with which he beats the drum, to beckon the dancers to a higher tempo of movement. They start with a slow movement of their feet. As the tempo increases, the hands, the feet and in fact the whole body comes into action. They whirl round and round bending and straightening their bodies alternatively, hopping on one leg, raising their hands, clapping with their handkerchiefs and exclaiming Bale Bale! Oh Bale Bale to inspire themselves and others to the abandon of the dance.

In addition to a drum, chimta-musical tongs and burchu and sound of the beats from earthen vessels are used as accompanying instruments. The costume of a Bhangra dancer consists of a bright, colored Patka on the head, a lacha or lungi of the same color, a long tunic and a black or blue waistcoat and ghunghroos on the ankles. Some dancers also wear small rings (nuntian) in their ears.

When the wheat crop is nearing ripening, the breeze softly touches the surface of the golden crop creating a ripple and reckoning the sickle, when the hard labor of the farmer is about to bear fruit, it is time of rejoicing and merry making and through Bhangra their emotions find uninhibited and spontaneous expression of genuine happiness. The Bhangra season concludes with the Baisakhi fair when the wheat is harvested.

There are several styles of dancing Bhangra such as Sialkoti, Sheikhupuri, Tribal, Malwa, Majha. One of the Bhangra's moves is also akin to the moves of Shiv-Tandav dance, which is danced on one leg. Damru, hand-drum is also used in Bhangra which shows that folk dances and war dances have similar parentage. A Bhangra performance typically contains many energetic stunts. The most popular stunt is called the moor, or peacock, in which a dancer sits on someone's shoulders, while another person hangs from his torso by his legs.