Bhutan Festivals 2027: Tshechu Dates for Punakha, Paro and Thimphu

Short answer: the Tourism Council of Bhutan's tentative list for 2027 puts the Punakha Tshechu on 16 to 18 February (after the Punakha Dromchoe on 13 to 15 February), the Paro Tshechu on 18 to 22 March, and the Thimphu Tshechu on 10 to 12 October. Bhutan's festival dates are set on the lunar calendar with astrologers and the districts, and the Council calls its own list tentative, so treat every date here as a planning date and check it again before you book flights.

Why do websites show different dates?

Because the dates are lunar and the official list is labelled tentative, operators copy it at different times, and some calculate their own. For the 2027 Paro Tshechu we found 18 to 22 March (the Tourism Council list and most operators), 19 to 23 March on one operator site and 27 to 31 March on another. For Punakha, some pages give 8 to 12 February, or a single 13 to 15 February range for the whole festival. The Council's list we used is marked "updated as of February 14, 2025". Bhutan's tourism site has published newer lists in past years, so look for a 2027 update on bhutan.travel early in the year, and ask your tour operator to confirm with the district before you pay for flights.

Spring 2027: Punakha in February, Paro in March

February is still winter in Bhutan. Punakha, at a lower altitude than Thimphu and Paro, is milder, which is one reason its festival week is popular. The high passes, such as Dochula on the Thimphu to Punakha road, can get snow, so leave some slack in the plan. Losar, the Bhutanese New Year, falls around the same week (6 or 7 February 2027 depending on the source; we found no government notice yet).

Check Punakha before you book. After the glacial lake outburst in Gasa on 29 October 2026, Punakha Dzong, where the Punakha festival is held, was closed to all visitors from 30 October "until further notice" as a flood precaution (Kuensel, via Asia News Network). As of 9 November 2026 we found no reopening date. The February festival may still go ahead, but confirm with your tour operator that the dzong has reopened before you pay for flights.

The Paro Tshechu in March is the best-known festival in western Bhutan and starts the spring season, which runs to May and is Bhutan's busiest time with Indian visitors: May 2026 was the year's highest month, with 47,343 tourists (The Bhutanese). The same March week also has smaller tshechus at Gomphukora, Talo, Gasa and Zhemgang (16 to 18 March). Paro is about 1 to 1.5 hours from Thimphu by road, and Punakha to Paro is about 4 hours.

If you are planning around Indian holidays: the central government list for 2027 has Holi on Tuesday 23 March and Good Friday on Friday 26 March. Those fall just after the Paro dates, so a Holi or Easter weekend trip will most likely miss the Paro festival. In April, the Rhododendron Week at Merak (3 to 9 April) and the Thimphu Rhododendron Festival (22 to 23 April) fit the spring flower season. The Council lists no major festival in May.

Autumn 2027: Thimphu, the cranes and Dochula

October is the second big season. The Thimphu Tshechu (10 to 12 October) follows the Thimphu Drubchen on 5 October, and Wangdue (8 to 10 October) and Gangtey (13 to 15 October) tshechus fall in the same fortnight, with the Jhomolhari Mountain Festival on 14 and 15 October. In 2027, Durga Puja and Dussehra (Saturday 9 October) fall just before the Thimphu Tshechu, so expect that week to be busy with visitors from West Bengal and the rest of India. In November, the Black-necked Crane Festival at Gangtey is on 11 November, and the Druk Wangyel Tshechu at Dochula closes the year on 13 December.

What changes in a festival week

Hotels near the festival town fill first and usually cost more that week, so book rooms before anything else. Festival days are long and the dzong courtyards are crowded, especially on the last day of a tshechu. Rules for Indian visitors stay the same as on any other date: no visa, but an entry permit on a valid Indian passport or Voter ID, and the Sustainable Development Fee of ₹1,200 per person per night (Embassy of India, Thimphu). Our guide to Bhutan entry rules for Indians has the full list, and Bhutan trip cost from Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad breaks down the money.

What we can't promise

These are tentative dates from the official calendar, not confirmed ones. A festival can move by a day or more, and the programme inside the dzong is set by the monks and the district, not by tour operators. If seeing a particular day matters to you, such as the Thongdrol at Paro, keep a spare day in the plan.