A unique festival that offers an insight into native mushroom including matsutake and chanterelle. The festival even let the tourists buy fresh mushrooms to take back home and binge on local cuisines. The entire festival holds an exciting vibe with activities like a Mask or Cham dance performed by the monks from nearby Buddhist monasteries.
Genekha Mushroom Festival is a two-day which is held annually in mid-August. The tentative festival dates for the year 2020 is out.
Starting Date: 15th August 2020Ending Date: 16th August 2020
Located uphill between Thimphu-Paro Highway, Genekha is a picturesque place to visit. It is located approx 45 minutes’ drive from Thimphu. As the roads are narrow one needs to drive safely to uptill Dagala Trail from where the short trek to the venue to Mushroom festival starts. Travellers other than countries like India, Bangladesh and Maldives who are up for visiting Bhutan for Genekha Mushroom Festival needs to get a visa issued either at Paro Airport or Phuentsholing in Bhutan.
An annual mushroom festival takes place in Genekha. Locally known as sangay shamu, Genekha is famous for producing matsutake and chanterelle mushrooms. It is during this festival, when the native mushroom and other local product, cultural programs by the school and local community is showcased. The mushrooms here are usually categorised into four parts including edible, edibility unknown, poisonous and inedible. Also tourists can even indulge in buying kilos of mushroom as the locals sell it at a cheaper rate during the event.
Supported by the tourism council of Bhutan, the tourism festival is organised by the Gewog administration and mushroom management group in collaboration with the national mushroom centre, DOA and MOAF. The prime objective of the festival is to educate and create awareness among the locals on the sustainable harvesting of the mushroom in order to relish the organic flavors of nature. Also, the festival doesn’t only bring the locals together but also is becoming successful in gathering an increasing number of tourists every year.
Besides exploring a variety of mushroom, one can even indulge in other activities that goes around for entertainment. Special mask dances are performed by the Buddhist monks from the nearby monasteries from every village. In addition to this, locals and tourists even get the best culinary experience by binging on the local cuisine like Khulay and Sangay Shamu Dashi at food stalls.
Tourists who are done with attending the festival and want to explore the other nearby beauties can head to Thimphu. The destination offers a number of places to visit including Changangkha Lhakhang, National Memorial Chorten, Tashichho Dzong, Tango Goemba, Dechen Phodrang and more.
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