Wangduephodrang festival started from yesterday 28 September and will continue till tomorrow 30 September 2017. The first day of the festival didn't draw much crowd as expected. There could have been lesser than three thousand people on the first day.  Wangduephodrang festival is held around the same time every year depending on the Bhutanese lunar calendar.

For the past few Wangduephodrang festival is being celebrated in the Tencholing army training ground after Wangduephodrang dzong was razed by fire few years back. 

Wangduephodrang dzong was built by Zhabdrung Ngawang Nyamgyel, who was the temporal and spiritual ruler of Bhutan before monarchy was established in Bhutan in 1907. 

Legend has it that Zhabdrung saw a boy build a small sand-fort on the bank of the river. After seeing the boy he decided to build a fort in Wangduephodrang. 

Wangduephodrang dzong is build on a spur and it looks like a sleeping elephant. 

Wangduephodrang festival

During the festival various folk and mask dances are performed. Mask dances are performed by the locals monks while folk dances are performed by the young boys and girls picked from several villages in Wangduephodrang district. 

This is a great event to the people of this district and it usually falls just before harvesting paddy and its time telling people of the arrival of winter. 

Any foreigner visiting during the festival will enjoy seeing people dressed in colourful dresses. Some dresses are heirloom passed down generations and some of these dresses cost over US$1000. This is the only time when people can show off their family possessions. The dresses people wear during this time is so colourful that the whole festival ground looks flooded in a sea of colours. 

For photographers is a great time. You can sit and intermingle with locals and even share meals with them. 

Check Bhutan festivals dates