Religious
festivals are held annually in Bhutan's dzongs at various
times of the year. The main purpose of the festivals is to
ward off evil through music, dancing, and rituals and to bring
good fortune to the next year. You can watch mask dances,
sword dances, and fire dances performed in the courtyards
of the dzongs. Each dance has its own spiritual importance
and can be performed either by monks or lay persons, and most
of the dances date back to before the Middle Ages. At the
end of some festivals you can witness the unveiling of a "thongrel,"
which is a tapestry of sorts that is hung from a wall in the
dzong's courtyard. It is said that watching the unveiling
of a thongrel will bring you good luck.
Many
visitors come to Bhutan to enjoy the most popular festivals,
which are held in Paro in the spring and in Thimphu and Bumthang
in the fall. Festivals are well worth attending because they
give you a different sense of the Bhutanese culture, plus
they're fun and entertaining. Due to the interest in the festivals,
these are the busiest times of the year for tourism. If you
wish to attend a festival, we strongly suggest that you book
your trip well in advance, as seat availability on Druk Air
is limited.
The
dates of the festivals change slightly from year to year because
they are based on the lunar calendar, which itself changes
every year.
