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The courtyard of Tashichho Dzong during the Thimphu tshechu, the green dance ground ringed by thousands of seated spectators under the white walls of the fortress

Thimphu Tshechu

Photo: Cfynn, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The capital's tshechu fills the courtyard of Tashichho Dzong for three days in autumn. It is the one Bhutanese festival that most people in the country have been to, and the seat of government becomes, for those days, a dance ground with several thousand people sitting around it.

Three days in the courtyard

The dzongkhag administration describes it plainly. The Thimphu tshechu usually starts in late September or early October and lasts three to five days, depending on the Bhutanese lunar calendar each year; typically it begins on the tenth day of the month and ends on the fourteenth, sometimes the thirteenth or the fifteenth. It is held in the grounds of Tashichho Dzong, and it honours Guru Rinpoche, the saint who brought Buddhism to Bhutan in the eighth century. The dances are cham, masked, performed by monks and by lay dancers in costume, and each one tells something — a teaching, a legend, a judgement.

Drubchen first

The tshechu does not stand alone. In the same fortress a few days earlier the Thimphu Drubchen is held, which the 2027 tentative list puts on 5 October, the tshechu following on the 10th. The drubchen is the ritual; the tshechu is the part the public comes for.

Atsaras and musicians

The clowns are called atsaras. They wear red masks, carry a wooden phallus, tease the crowd and hand out blessings that are also jokes, and they work the whole day while the dancers come and go. Around the edge of the ground sit the musicians with cymbals, long horns and drums, and the dances are timed to them rather than the other way round.

When it falls

The date comes from the Bhutanese lunar calendar and cannot be derived here. The Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators publishes a yearly schedule headed tentative festival dates, noting that they are tentative until confirmed by the respective dzong; the 2027 list gives 10 to 12 October. The gap against 2026, when the festival fell in the third week of September, shows how far it can move.

When it happens

Usually late September or early October, beginning on the tenth day of the Bhutanese lunar month and running three to five days. The tour operators' association lists 10 to 12 October 2027 and marks it tentative.

  • October 10 – 12, 2027Estimated

Visiting with respect

Good to know

  • Wear something you would wear to a service. Shoulders and knees covered, and no hat inside the dzong.
  • Come early. By the time the dances start the good places on the courtyard steps are taken.
  • Applause is not how people respond here. Watch the Bhutanese around you and do as they do.
  • Tashichho Dzong is the seat of the government and of the central monastic body. Follow whatever the stewards and your guide tell you about where you may walk.

Avoid

  • Do not step onto the dance ground, at any point, for any photograph.
  • Do not photograph people at prayer without asking first.
  • Do not smoke on the grounds.

Stay safe

  • Thimphu is at about 2,300 metres, and the courtyard is in full sun for most of the day. Water, a hat for outside the dzong, and something for the cold early morning.
  • The crowd is dense at the entrances at the start and end of each day. Keep valuables where you can feel them.
  • Road accidents are one of the biggest causes of injury and death in Bhutan. Avoid travelling at night.
Black and white photograph of an atsara at the Thimphu tshechu, seen from behind with his mask raised towards the crowd
Black and white photograph of an atsara at the Thimphu tshechu, seen from behind with his mask raised towards the crowd · Photo: Nithild1979, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Black and white photograph of a musician at the Thimphu tshechu holding a long-necked instrument over one shoulder, facing the dance ground
Black and white photograph of a musician at the Thimphu tshechu holding a long-necked instrument over one shoulder, facing the dance ground · Photo: Nithild1979, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Sources

This entry was written from the following sources.

  1. Thimphu tshechuDzongkhag Administration, Thimphu · read September 25, 2026
  2. Tentative festival dates for the year 2027Association of Bhutanese Tour Operators · read September 25, 2026
  3. TshechuWikipedia · read September 25, 2026
  4. Bhutan travel advice: safety and securityUK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office · read September 25, 2026

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