Black-Necked Crane Festival

Black-necked cranes breed on the Tibetan plateau and fly south over the Himalaya each autumn. Several hundred of them spend the winter in the Phobjikha valley, arriving from late October and leaving in February or March. The valley’s people hold the birds in great affection, and local tradition says the cranes circle Gangtey Goenpa three times when they arrive and again when they leave.

On 11 November every year the valley holds a festival in the monastery’s courtyard to welcome them back. It was started to celebrate the cranes and to give the community a stake in protecting them, and it is organised by local people with the Royal Society for Protection of Nature. The date is also the birthday of the Fourth King of Bhutan.

What you will see

The festival lasts a single day. Schoolchildren in black and white crane costumes perform the crane dance, which is the heart of the programme. Around it come masked dances by the monks, folk songs and dances by groups from the valley, and short plays with a conservation message.

Seeing the cranes

The birds themselves are on the marsh in the valley floor, not at the monastery. The best times to watch them are early morning, when they leave their roost to feed in the fields, and dusk, when they return. The Crane Information Centre has telescopes and displays, and the Gangtey nature trail runs along the edge of the wetland. In the winter of 2024 to 2025 the Royal Society for Protection of Nature counted 640 cranes in Phobjikha.

Please keep to the paths, keep your voice down, and never approach the birds. Drones are not permitted.

Practical notes

• Phobjikha lies at 3,000 m. In November the days are bright and cold and the nights are below freezing.
• Bring binoculars if you have them, and a long lens if you photograph wildlife.
• The valley has few hotels. Stay two nights if you can, so that the festival day is not rushed.
• The festival is on a fixed date, 11 November, unlike most Bhutanese festivals.