---

Tibetan Festival Guide

Tibetan festivals revolve around important religious events and seasonal changes, including Losar, Saga Dawa, Monlam Prayer, Shoton, Horse Racing, etc.

Tibetan festivals revolve around important religious events and seasonal changes, including Losar, Saga Dawa, Monlam Prayer, Shoton, Horse Racing, etc. These festivals are religious observances and vital moments for cultural expression and community bonding among the Tibetan people. In addition, Tibetan festivals are vibrant celebrations that reflect the rich culture and traditions of the Tibetan people. Traditional dances, music, food, and rituals are performed during these celebrations to express gratitude to nature and life. Nowadays, the entertainment component of Tibetan holidays is becoming more and more intense. However, the Tibetan festival is the best time for tourists to experience Tibetan culture.

Deeply influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, Tibetan festivals either have a strong or completely religious aroma. No matter what kind of festivals, they are closely related to Tibetan Buddhism. Activities such as pilgrimage, sacrificial offerings, prayers, and unfolding Buddhist images have penetrated various holidays in Tibet. In Tibet, the Tibetan calendar lags approximately four to six weeks behind the solar calendar. For example, the Tibetan New Year, also known as Losar, is usually held on the first day of the new year, which is February or March in the Gregorian calendar. Since ancient times, people living on the snowy plateau have longed to live a better life under the mercy of God and the protection of Buddha. Festivals are opportunities for them to express their wishes and enjoy themselves for the gods, Buddha, and nature.

Below we have listed the major traditional Tibetan festivals, so that you may better plan your tour, as well as learn more about the Tibetan people.

---

Tibetan Festival Calendar
The Tibetans are a multi-festival people, and according to the Tibetan calendar (similar to the Han lunar calendar), there are festivals almost every month. While enjoying Tibet's beautiful and magnificent natural scenery ...

Tibetan New Year
Tibetan New year, known as Losar, is the most important Buddhist Festival which is celebrated by Tibetans as new year.   Tibetan New year, also known as Losar, is the most important festival in the Tibetan ca...

Tibetan New Year in Shigatse Area
Tibetan New Year, also known as Peasants Day for Tibetans, is the most ceremonious festival in Shigatse, and it falls on the 1st of the twelfth month according to the Tibetan calendar. Shigatse is a rich and fertile agricu...

Tibetan New Year in Kongbo Area
As the first festival throughout the year, Tibetan New Year is the most ceremonial festival in Kongbo Area of Shigatze Prefecture, central south Tibet, in the Yarlung Tsangpo River Valley. It is a festival for families to ...

Monlam Prayer Festival
The Monlam prayer festival is actually almost a two week event. The festival starts on the fourth day of the Tibetan calender and ends of the fifteenth day that is the day called the Butter Lamp Festival (Choe-nga Choepa) that...

Tibetan Butter Lamp Festival
This delicious-sounding festival involves lighting butter lamps (lamps made of butter) and displaying butter sculptures in order to commemorate Shakyamuni Buddha’s great debating victory over his opponents about 2,500 ye...

Saga Dawa Festival
The Saga Dawa Festival honors the life of Buddha. According to their tradition, when Buddha was dying, he instructed one of his followers not to honor him merely with flowers, incense and lights after he died but by striving t...

Gyantse Horse Race Festival
In rugged beautiful high-altitude country about 245 kilometers southwest of Lhasa is the ancient town of Gynatse where there are annual athletic contests on the fourth lunar month of the Tibetan calender. These contests involv...

Zamling Chisang
On the 15th day of the 5th month of the Tibetan calendar that is July 31 in 2015, there is a traditional festival called Zamling Chisang or Universal Prayer Day to celebrate Guru Rinpoche's subjugation of the local deities...

Ganden Thangka Festival
The Ganden Thangka Festival is an important festival at the old Ganden Monastery that was the leading monastery of the Geluk tradition of Tibet. Every year, thousands of people circle the monastery ruins, enter inside to view ...

Tibetian Horse Racing Festival
Horse racing is one of the oldest and most popular forms of competition and entertainment among the Tibetan people, and it is also an important part of Chinese horse culture. The flourishing of horse racing activities in T...

Tibet Shoton Festival
The Shoton Festival is one of the most popular traditional festivals in Tibet. It celebrates eating yogurt, the Tibetan monks who end their season of meditation, the watching of Tibetan dramatic operas, and Tibetan Buddhism. I...

Lhabab Duechen Festival
The Lhabab Duechen or Duchen Festival is a Tibetan Buddhist festival that commemorates Buddha returning to earth after going to the 33 Heaven at the age of 41. The festival is in the ninth month of the Tibetan calendar on the ...

Festival of the Horse in Tibet
Festival of the Horse has always been one of the favorite sports of Tibetan people. There are more than 3.87 million Tibetans in China. Besides the 1.78 million Tibetan people living in Tibet Autonomous Region, the remaining T...