Lomba

Lomba is a  five-day festival celebrated by western Bhutan, especially Haa and Paro. It’s their new year, celebrated earlier than the Lunar new year. Marking the transition from old to new, Lomba is mostly a personal family festival, and starts from the 29^th day of the tenth month in the Lunar calendar. During Lomba, families enjoy regional delights like hoentey, a buckwheat-wrapped dumpling - a special new year delicacy for western Bhutan.

Visitors living with a local family during Lomba will get the chance to enjoy a sumptuous feast, experience regional traditions, from the vibrant 'Lolay, Lolay' rhymes sung by children, to the ceremonies held for a year of health and prosperity. You will also witness the making of a miniature person out of dough (lu), which is then ‘chased away’ with screams to scare it away. The lu is believed to take away the sufferings and illnesses of the family.