Ngari Festivals and Activities

Ngari festivals and activities tell you what to do during the festival tour in Ngari, and they will surely enrich your Tibet tour. Although the weather in Nagri is harsh, people there are hospitable. People dance and sing during the festival, enjoying Best local food.  After a taste of a cup of highland barley wine, yak butter tea or yogurt, you will be moved by the hospitality and happiness of the people in Ngari.

Festivals in Ngari

Various Tibetan festivals are celebrated in different ways in Ngari. It is suggested to visit Ngari during the festivals and enjoy the lively scenes with the local Tibetan people. 

Saga Dawa Festival (萨噶达娃节)

April of  the Tibetan Calendar is the time to celebrate Sagadawa Festival in order to commemorate Sakyamuni, who is the founder of Buddhism. Pilgrims spare no effort to walk around the holy lakes and mountains like Kailash and Lake Manasarovar.

Wangguo Festival (望果节)

Wangguo Festival/Fruit-Awaiting Festival is celebrated in the middle of August of the Tibetan Calendar, people will dress up and bring with butter tea, highland barley wine and a variety of food to the fields for having a picnic. At the same time, they will sing and dance, and hold activities including horse racing, cattle racing, archery, stoning and wrestling, etc.

Tibetan New Year (藏历新年)

On Tibetan New Year's Day, people bring their offerings and highland barley wine to their own farmland to sacrifice the Harvest Goddess. Everyone in the ground sets up a long pole, hanging streamer on the top of the pole, and wheat straw bound on the lower end. People build an altar in front of the pole, and then simmer mulberry, singing and dancing, begging the Harvest Goddess for a booming harvest. There are lots of New Year entertainment. From the beginning of the second day, the men take part in horse racing and archery, the arrow is a wooden cone drilled with holes, when arrows set out from the string, people begin dancing and drinking around the campfire. 

Men's Day in Korjak Village (科迦村男人节)

The Men's Day is a unique festival in Kejia Township of Burang County. It is held every year from February 11th  to 15 th of the Tibetan calendar. During the festival, from 18-year-old boys to 70 to 80-year-old men, all were honored as distinguished guests. They gathered on the flat area in front of Korjak Monastery, sat on the mat, eating and drinking, enjoying the women performing folk dances. Before the Men's Day,  prestigious elders in the village started to raise funds to run it, they set the amount of rice, noodles, oil, meat, firewood and wine that each person needs to provide.

Acitivities in Ngari

Except for popular Saga Dawa Festival and Tibetan New Year Festival, other festivals like Xiangxiong Cultural Festival are fun and attractive as well.

Xiangxiong Cultural Festival (象雄文化节)

Date: July 
Location: Shiquanhe Town, Ngari
Xiangxiong Cultural Festival (象雄文化节) is a good time to visit the relics of Guge Kingdom, holy Mount Kailash, sacred Lake Manasarovar, spectacular Zhada Earth Forest, beautiful Pangong Tso Lake in Ngari Region. The Xiangxiong festival usually lasts for the whole August. Xiangxiong, also Zhangzhung, is an ancient culture and kingdom of western Tibet that dates back more than 1300 years. The most eye-catching event featured in the Xiangxiong Festival is Tibet’s most renowned horse competition. 

Daqin Buddhist Celebration (达钦佛事活动)

Date: April 15 of the Tibetan Calendar
Location: Darchen Village, Mount Kailash
Daqin Buddhist Celebration is held in Darchen Village at the foot of the Mount Kailash. It means the beginning of the pilgrimage to holy lake and Kailash. The activity include setting up a sacrificial flag pole wrapped with prayer flags. The flag pole is set up only to half height on the first day, and it should be completed on the second day.

Korjak Monastery Buddhist Celebration (科迦寺佛事活动)

Date: June 4th of the Tibetan Calendar (July in Chinese Calendar)
Location: Burang County, Ngari
Korjak Monastery and Tholing Monastery are two ancient monasteries. Due to their influence in Ngari and neighboring Nepal's Buddhism, at this time of year, more than 1,000 monks and people come to participate in Buddhist activities. Moreover, the Tibetan Thangka collected in the monastery will be hung out for exhibition.

Sgar-Vchar-Chen (噶尔恰钦盛会)

Date: August 10th to 15th of the Tibetan Calendar (September in Chinese Calendar)
Location: Gar Yasa (噶尔雅萨), Ngari
The fair is held in Gar Yasa (噶尔雅萨), Ngari every year from August 10th to 15th of the Tibetan calendar. During the fair, acitivities including horse racing, equestrian performances, shooting, singing and dancing performances and local product trading market were held. Ngari officials at all levels took part in various activities of the fair, and tens of thousands of people attended the fair every year.

Tibet Festival Tours including Ngari

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