Festivals abound in Tibet and for many it is a focus for a journey there.

New Year
New Year is the most important festival in Tibet. It is an occassion when Tibetan families reunite and both hope and expect that the coming year will be a better one. Known as Losar, the festival starts from the first to the third day of the first Tibetan month. Preparations for the festive event are manifested by special offerings to family shrine deities, painted doors with religious symbols, and other painstaking jobs are done to prepare for the event.

Monlam
The Great Prayer Festival, falls anywhere from the fourth up to the eleventh day of the first Tibetan month. The event was established in 1049 by Tsong Khapa, the founder of the Dalai Lama and the Panchen Lama's order , It is the grandest religious festival in Tibet. Religious dances are performed and thousands of monks gather for chanting in front of the Jokhang Temple. Examinations take the form of debates for the Geshe degree, the highest degree in Buddhist theology. Pilgrims crowd to listen to the sermons and to give religious donations.

Butter Lamp Festival
Chunga Choepa in Tibetan, falls on the fifteenth day of the first Tibetan month. The event was also established by Tsong Khapa to celebrate the victory of Sakyamuni against heretics in a religious debate. Giant butter and tsampa sculptures varying in forms of auspicious symbols and figures are displayed on the Barkhor Square (inner pilgrimage circuit). People continue singing and dancing throughout the festive night.

Shoton Festival
Beginning on the thirtieth day of the sixth Tibetan month the origin of the festival started from the 17th century when pilgrims served yoghourt to the monks who stopped for their summer retreat. Years later, Tibetan opera performances were added to the event to amuse monks in monasteries. During the festival, giant Thanks of the Buddha are unveiled in Draping monastery while Tibetan opera troupes perform at Norbulingka.

Bathing Festival
Starts on the twenty-seventh day of the seventh lunar month and lasts a week when Venus appears in the sky. Tibetans bring food, set up tents along rivers and bathe under the stars.The holy bath was believed to heal all kinds of illnesses and ward off misfortune.

Nakchu Horse Racing Festival
This is the most important folk festival in Tibet. People gather for the annual horse races in Nakchu town and construct a tent city. Dressing both themselves and their finest horse, thousands of herdsmen participate in horse racing, archery and horsemanship contests. Other folk activities and commodity fairs are also held. The event falls in early August.

Tsong Khapa Butter Lamp Festival
This falls on twenty-fifth day of the tenth Tibetan month. It is a festival when myriad's of butter lamps are lit on rooftops and prayers are chanted to commemorate the loss of Song Chap who was a great religious reformer.

Holy Mountain Festival
The holy mountain festival begins on the fourth day of the sixth Tibetan month and commemorates Sakyamuni's (Buddha's) first sermon. People go to monasteries to pay their respects to the Buddha. Circumambulation around the mountains is a very popular practice during the festival. Picnicking, singing and dancing are also part of the event. Mt.Kailash is a very popular journey at this stage.

Universal Prayers Festival
Beginning on the fifteenth day of the fifth Tibetan month, the event commemorates Padmasambhava's subjugation of evil spirits,many people go to the monasteries to burn juniper branches.

Harvest Festival
Is celebrated when the crops ripen,usually around August. The festival is observed only in farming villages. People walk around their fields to thank the gods and deities for a good year's harvest. Singing, dancing, and horse racing are indispensable folk activities