Set among pristine lakes and high alpine valleys, the Haa summer festival is a lively and uplifting celebration of traditional living culture, nomadic lifestyles, unique Bhutanese cuisine, traditional sports, and religious performances. Immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind experience by playing the local sports, sampling the delicious home-cooked cuisine, and enjoying traditional songs and dances all while imbibing the heady local liquor (Ara). Join us on this fantastic journey into the Mythic Valley of the Guardian Spirit.
Haa Summer Festival Tour
Haa Summer Festival. Live the Experience. The perfect way to truly experience and understand the traditional lifestyle of the people of Haa is by staying at one of the local farmhouses.
Camping facilities are also available for guests wishing to spend a night out under the stars. Campers interested in experiencing a taste of the nomadic lifestyle will want to try a night in one of the traditional genuine yak hair tents.
How to get to Haa Festival?
Get There: Haa valley is located very close to the international airport at Paro. To get to Haa you must travel two hours by road and cross the Chelela mountain pass
Best things to do in Haa
Hiking and Nature Sight-seeing
Walk along centuries-old trails through mountain slopes covered in beautiful flowers. You’ll lose yourself amidst fields of white poppies (Meconopsis Superba), dense forests of fir trees, and crystalline streams brimming with rainbow trout. The White Poppy can not be found anywhere else in the world. It grows to 1.5 m in height at around 4000m altitude.
Nub Tshona Pata Trek: This 6-day Trek takes hikers through scenic Haa Valley, along beautiful alpine meadows and rhododendron scrub to sacred lake Nub Tshona Pata. The trail offers spectacular views of Mt. Gangkharpunsum and Mt. Kanchenjunga. The trail ranges in altitude between 2735-4420m. Find Details of Nub Tshonapata Trek
Tour details of the Haa Summer Festival
- Day 01: Arrival in Bhutan and overnight at Paro
- Day 02: Paro to Haa
- Day 03: Attend Haa Summer Festival
- Day 04: Haa to Thimphu City Tour
- Day 05 Thimphu to Punakha
- Day 06: Punakha to Paro
- Day 07 See Off
Trip Highlights
- Set among pristine lakes and high alpine valleys, the Haa summer festival is a lively and uplifting celebration of traditional living culture, nomadic lifestyles, unique Bhutanese cuisine, traditional sports, and religious performances. Immerse yourself in this one-of-a-kind experience by playing the local sports, sampling the delicious home-cooked cuisine, and enjoying traditional songs and dances all while imbibing the heady local liquor (Ara).
- The people of Haa (Haaps) inhabit high valleys above 3000 meters. Strong-boned and resilient, the Haaps are devout and hardworking yak herders and farmers. Besides herding, they mainly cultivate wheat, potatoes, barley, and millet. Their guardian spirit, believed to protect all Haaps is known as Ap (father) Chhundu and the locals’ religious lives center around appeasing him as well as numerous other Buddhist and Shamanic (Bon) deities. The people of Haa are also famous for their skills in the traditional 13 arts (Zorig Chusum), producing some of the most exquisite pieces of jewelry, statuary, and handicrafts from gold, silver, bronze, clay, and slate.
- Food, A Taste of Tradition – Sample the delicious Haapi Hoentoe, hearty dumplings made from buckwheat and stuffed with fragrant grated turnip, dried turnip greens, mushrooms, garlic, onions, and chopped cabbage seasoned with ginger, ground walnut, chili-powder, salt, butter, sesame and poppy seeds.