Tibetan Festivals

Festival is a kind of comprehensive culture, serving as a bridge into the soul of an ethnic group. General festivals are held in certain seasons, but the contents are all-embracing. Especially some grand festivals thoroughly reflect regional politics and economy, production and living, religion and belief, culture and arts, social interaction, national psychology and so forth. Tibetan, one of Chinese ethnic minorities, have great talent in singing and dancing and enjoy various kinds of social activities. As an important platform for social events, Tibetan festivals almost take place every month. Some last for one or two days, while some would be celebrated for more then ten days. In addition to national festivals, different regions have their own unique regional festivals.

With various manifestations, Tibetan festivals have rich contents, including worship, farming, commemoration, celebration, social recreation, etc. According to different nature and purpose, festivals in Tibet can be roughly classified into four groups, the religious festival, the productive festival, the entertaining festival and the seasonal festival.