WHY GO NOW

Come to Bhutan for a masked-dance festival, when the whole valley turns out in its best clothes.

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For a few days each year, a dzong becomes the centre of a celebration. Families arrive in their best gho and kira, monks and lay dancers fill the courtyard in masks and silk to the sound of drums, cymbals and long horns, and people meet friends, share picnics and receive blessings. This is a tshechu, Bhutan's festival of masked dances. There is plenty to watch, and much of the experience is simply being there while it happens. Every dance tells a story too, and before your festival day our guide introduces the characters you will see.

You choose the festival: the Paro Tshechu in late March, or the Thimphu Tshechu in mid-October. You can see how they differ below. In Paro the crowd is largest on the morning the giant thangka is shown, so we only go that morning if our partner can find the group a safe place to watch together.

Everyone who comes has chosen this week for the festival, so you share the occasion with people who want to be there too.

Around the festival, the week is easier: a gho or kira to wear on festival day if you would like one, an afternoon trying Bhutanese archery, a hot stone bath, lunch at a village farmhouse, and Tiger's Nest if you want it. Visitors to Bhutan need a licensed guide for every dzong and for travel beyond Thimphu and Paro. On your own, the guide and the car are yours alone to pay for. In a small group they are shared.

Festival dates follow the Bhutanese lunar calendar and stay tentative until they are confirmed, so the trip dates are set around them. Rooms for festival week go early, so the date comes first.

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PARO OR THIMPHU?

The Paro Tshechu, late March. It is expected from 18 to 22 March 2027, over five days, at Rinpung Dzong in Paro, the valley where the flight lands, and then on the festival ground beside it. On the last morning a giant thangka is shown before dawn and taken down soon after, and that is the most crowded morning of the festival. Mornings are about 4°C and days about 17°C. Choose it for the thangka at dawn and spring in the valleys.

The Thimphu Tshechu, mid-October. It is expected from 10 to 12 October 2027, over three days, at Tashichho Dzong in the capital, on the festival ground beside it. The last day ends with a dance and blessings, with the city in festival mood. It is busy, though visitors say it is easier to find a place to sit than in Paro. Mornings are about 9°C and days about 24°C, in Bhutan's clearest month. Choose it for the capital's festival and clear autumn days.

Many of the dances are the same at both. What changes is the season and the setting.

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WHAT WE PROMISE

Festival-week rooms go early, the valleys are a long drive apart, and visitors need a visa, travel permits and a licensed guide. We book the rooms, the guide and the drives, and handle the visa and permits, so you only need to book the flight.

Already decided

• Seven days and six nights in western Bhutan, around the Paro Tshechu in late March or the Thimphu Tshechu in mid-October
• Time at the festival to take in the dances and the occasion, with a guide who can explain what you are seeing
• Before your festival day, a short introduction to the festival from our local guide, with a written guide to its dances to take along
• A gho or kira to wear on festival day, if you would like one, with help to put it on
• An afternoon trying Bhutanese archery, a hot stone bath one evening, and lunch at a village farmhouse
• Breakfast and dinner every day, at the group's table or on your own if you prefer, with lunches left open (where possible)
• Well-reviewed hotels in two or three valleys, booked early for festival week, where every room has its own bathroom
• The drives over the passes in daylight (where possible), with the group
• The Bhutan visa and travel permits, arranged by us, and Bhutan's daily fee for visitors (SDF), included in the price
• A local trip leader throughout, and never more than 15 people
• A last full day in Paro, with a guide whichever you choose: Tiger's Nest, or an easier walk in the valley

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After you register

You can tell us what interests you, such as seeing masks being made at the arts school. If enough people choose the same thing and it can be arranged, it becomes part of the trip, included in the price. If not, you can ask to add it for yourself. You pay only for what you add.

We set the dates around the festival you choose. Festival dates are set by the Bhutanese calendar, and we confirm them with our partner before anything is paid.

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^{DATES DON'T WORK?}

Register anyway and tell us when you could go. If enough people ask for the same dates, we add a trip for them.

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