Festivals

There are numerous grand festivals held in Tibet every year, such as Tibetan New Year, Shoton Festival, Saga Dawa Festival... During the holidays in Tibet, it is the best time for tourists to experience Tibetan culture.

The main Tibetan festivals have strong religious characteristics. No matter what kind of festivals, they are closely related to Tibetan Buddhism. Activities such as pilgrimage, sacrificial offerings, prayers, and unfolding Buddhism images have penetrated into various holidays in Tibet. Nowadays, with the progress of the times and the continuous development of Tibet's tourism industry, the entertainment component of Tibetan holidays is becoming more and more intense. But no matter how it changes, during the festival, it's the best time to explore local traditions and customs.

Check the following Tibetan festival calendar and start your dreamy festival tours of Tibet!

Great Tibet Tour sorted out the new calendar of 2020 Tibetan festivals

Tibetan Festivals	Tibetan Calendar	2020 Solar Calendar	2019 Solar Calendar	2018 Solar Calendar	Active Region	Events
Tibetan New Year (The most important one)	Jan.1	Feb. 24	Feb.5	Feb.16	TAR	Also being called as Losar. Tibetan New Year is a colorful time to be in Lhasa. Tibetan opera is preformed and streets are thronged with Tibetans in their finest cloaks. Prayer ceremonies take place at Jokhang Temple and Nechung Monastery and new prayer flags are hung.
Butter Lantern Festival	Jan. 15	Feb. 8	Feb. 19	Mar. 2	Jokhang Temple	The 15th day of the Tibetan calendar is the last climax of the Tibetan New Year, and it is also the last day of the monlam. During daytime, people will go to temples to worship and turn the prayer wheels. At night, they will light butter lamps and visit various butter sculptures at Barkhor Street.
Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival	Between Jan. and Feb.	Not yet issued	Mid-mar to early Apr.	Mar.25	Nyingchi	Every year in spring, hundreds of thousands tourists come to join Nyingchi Peach Blossom Festival. The peach blossom period in Nyingchi is from March 25 to April 20. You will not only enjoy the lovely peach blossom but also have fun with activities such as whistling, princess' wedding, peach and other folk activities.
Tsurphu Cham Dance Festival	Apr.10	Jun. 2	Jun.12	May.24	Tsurphu Monastery	Surphu Cham Dance Festival commemorates the famous Indian monk Padmasambhava, who traveled to Tibet and neighboring countries in the 8th century to spread the teachings of Buddhism.Tibetan people travel to Tshurpu Monastery to watch the Lamas engage in a masked dance known as a Cham. The Lamas perform the Cham in celebration of Padmasambhava, who some regard as an emanation of the second Buddha. The Lamas perform several traditional dances, including the dance of the eight manifestations of Padmasambhava, based on the eight forms he is said to have taken during his life. Each form represents a different aspect of his being, such as wrath or pacification.
Saga Dawa Festival (The holiest one)	Apr.15	Jun. 15	Jun.17	May.29	TAR	Saga Dawa is Sakyamuni’s conception, enlightenment and entry into nirvana. Huge numbers of pilgrims walk Lhasa’s Lingkhor circuit and visit Mt Kailash, where the Tarboche prayer pole is raised each year.
Tashilhunpo Thangka Festival	May 14 to 16	Jul. 4	Jul.14 to Jul.16	Jun.26	Tashilhunpo Monastery	Tashilhunpo becomes the scene of three days of festivities. A huge thangka is unveiled at dawn and cham dances are performed.
Samye Dolde (Samye Festival/Zamling Chisang)	May.15	Not yet issued	/	/	Samye Monastery	Held over two or three days, the main events here are elaborate ritual ceremonies and cham dancing in front of the Utse. Tibetans spend overnights at Samye and see religious dances, most of people also go to circumambulate holy mountains by carrying holy scriptures on their shoulder all the way in order to wash out sins and earn merits for their present and future life.
Chokor Duchen Festival	Jun.4	Not yet issued	Aug.4	Jul.16	TAR	The Chokor Duchen Festival belongs to religious festival. On the 4th of June in the Tibetan calendar, Buddha Sakyamuni first spoke to his five disciples in the city of Poluonai about his enlightenment. On this day, Tibetan people make pilgrimages to nearby temples and walk around the nearby mountains.
Gyangtse Horse Racing Festival	/	Jul. 20	Aug.	Jul.20	Gyangtse	This largely secular festival in Gyantse, featuring such fun and games as line dances, yak races, archery and equestrian events. A large 480-year old thangka is unfurled at sunrise.
Ganden Thangka Festival	Jun.15	Jul. 29	Aug.15	Jul.27	Gandan Monastery	Ganden Monastery displays its 25 holiest relics, which are normally locked away. A large offering ceremony accompanies the unveiling.
Nagqu Horse Racing Festival	Jun.	Not yet issued	Aug.10	Aug.10	Nagqu	An important event in northern Tibet, thousands of nomads head to Nagqu for a week of horse racing, archery and other traditional nomad sports.
Shoton Festival (The most popular one)	Jul.1	Aug. 20	Aug.30	Aug.11	TAR	Also called Yogurt Festival. This major festival starts with the dramatic unveiling of giant thangka at Drepung Monastery and then moves to Sera Monastery and then down to Nobulingka Park for performances of Tibetan opera and some epic picnics.
Drak Yerpa Thangka Festival	Jul.10	Not yet issued	Sept.8	Aug.20	Drak Yerpa	The Drak Yerpa Monastrey Cham Dance Festival began as a religious ritual and evolved into a traditional festival. The festival lasts 2 to 3 days. During the festival, the Drak Yerpa Monastrey will hold religious ceremonies and cham dancing.
Damxung Horse Racing Festival	Jul.10 to Jul.12	Not yet issued	Aug.20	Aug.20	Damxung	Regarded as one of the most significant Horse Racing Festivals in Tibet, it's also a time for Tibetans to celebrate the harvest. After the daily competition, there is a market for them to exchange commodities.
Bathing Festival	Jul.8	Aug. 26	Sep.4 to Sep.10	Sept.16	TAR	The Bathing Festival is called "Gama Riqu" by Tibetans, means bathing. This traditional festival is very popular in the Tibetan area. In July of Tibetan calendar, no matter men or women, will take a bath in the nearby river and wash their hair and body. It is said that they will become healthy and happy without any disease after bathing.
Ongkor Festival	Between Jul. and Aug.	Not yet issued	End of Sept	End of Sept	TAR	The Ongkor Festival is a festival for Tibetan farmers to celebrate their harvest. It is popular in Lhasa, Shigatse, Lhoka, etc. With 1500 years history, the Ongkor Festival is a grand festival in rural Tibet. There's no a fixed date to celebrate and it usually holds 1~3 days before the autumn harvest. As soon as the festival is over, the intense autumn harvest begins.
Buddha's Descent Day(Lhabab Duchen)	Sept.22	Not yet issued	Nov.19	Oct.31	TAR	The Buddha's Descent Day is a traditional religious festival in Tibet. It is called “Lhabab Duchen” in Tibetan, which means the day of the fall of god. It is said that Buddha Sakyamuni would return to the world on that day. Before the festival, Tibetan believers will whitewash major temples to welcome the arrival of Buddha. On the day of the festival, Buddhist activities are held in various temples to pray for world peace and the prosperity of the Buddhist dharma.
Tibetan New Year in Kongbo Area	Oct. 1	Nov. 16	Nov. 27	Nov. 7	Nyingchi	Long time ago, when a foreign army invaded Tibet, a tribe was unable to resist and had to ask for help from Kongpo Kingdom. The King of Kongpo formed a army to support them. To comfort the soldiers, the King advanced the Tibetan New Year to October 1 of Tibetan calendar. Later, the custom of Kongpo New Year Festival came into being. The main activities of the festival are to invite dogs to choose food among Cuo(foretelling the harvest of future year ahead), eat "Jieda", carry water, celebrate to honor the goddsess of harvest and so on.
Palden Lhamo Festival	Oct.15	Not yet issued	Nov.23	Nov.23	Lhasa	The Palden Lhamo Festival is also known as the "Fairies’ Festival " in Tibet. The festival originated from the folklore of Palden Lhamo, the goddess of Jokhang temple. At the Jokhang temple in Lhasa, people worshiped Bai Lhamo, the daughter of Palden Lhamo, one of the Tibetan Buddhist dharma gods. At this time of the year, the women dress up to the statue of Lhamo to burn incense, pray, and sincerely wish. The men treat women with special respect and give them gifts or money on this day.
Butter Lamp Festival	Oct.25	Dec. 10	Dec.21	Dec.2	Lhasa	The Butter Lamp Festival commemorates the death of Tsongkhapa, who was the Buddhist reformer and Gelug school's founder. Beginning in 1420, the festival is held on October 25 every year in the Tibetan calendar. On this day, the Gelug temples and herdsmen lit butter lamps day and night both inside and outside the temple altars and on the home hall.The number of butter lamps is usually singular, because singular means auspicious in the Tibetan concept.