Haa Spring Festival

When it happens

The Haa Spring Festival follows no lunar month or day. It is a modern district festival set to Gregorian dates in April.

The district administration moved it to April from the monsoon months, because rain had hurt access and turnout. Spring brings clearer weather and the peak bloom of the valley’s herbs and flowers. The spring slot also comes while the yaks are still down in the valley, which adds to the festival and gives herders a commercial opening.

Where it happens

The festival is held on an open ground at Yangthang, just over a kilometre from Haa towards Bji Gewog. It is not a dzong (fortress) courtyard or a temple precinct. Haa valley sits at about 2,700 m, and each spring rhododendrons flush red across the hillsides around it.

History

The festival’s original purpose is described as promoting tourism products and presenting Haa’s cultural identity and natural environment. It is described as having grown since into a platform for cultural preservation, tourism promotion and community development.

It began as the Haa Summer Festival, held for three days every year. It then shifted to spring and took the name Haa Spring Festival. In the same step it moved from Eusu Gewog to Yangthang.

Being there

The road from Paro to Haa crosses Chelela, one of Bhutan’s highest road passes, and takes about two and a half hours through spruce and larch forest. On a clear day the pass looks out on Jomolhari and Jichu Drake, and down into both the Paro and Haa valleys.

Haa opened to foreign tourists only in 2002 and is still one of the least visited parts of the country.