13th Annual Black-necked Crane Festival

The 13^th Black-necked Crane festival came to an end with a melancholic feeling yet a satisfied day. The festival marked the end of all the other festivals in the valley. Local communities of Phobjikha, dressed in their best attires filled the courtyard of Gangtey Goenpa to witness the festival with immense joy. The day also saw hundreds of international and national tourists.

Dasho Dzongda, Wangduephodrang   Dzongkhag Administration, graced the day as the Chief Guest. In his speech the Chief Guest expressed his appreciation for the Phobjikha communities in general and Phobjikha Environment Management Committee (PEMC) in particular for organizing the festival annually for the general awareness of the importance of conserving the endangered Black-necked Cranes and its habitat.

School children from the two schools of Phobjikha Middle Secondary School and Bayta Community School preformed Black-necked Crane dances and other traditional Bhutanese Dances. Monks of Gangtey Shedra also performed few mask dances which added flavor to the festival according to some international tourists.

The Secretary, PEMC, added that this year the BNC festival was more interesting than the previous year’s festival and hope that the festival will continue to be more interesting each year.