Kholey Dai Festival - socialbnb Travel Blog
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Kholey Dai Festival

Don’t miss the cultural Kholey Dai Festival in Kalimpong, India. The annual rice harvest and folk music festival of the Parengtar community in India aims to revive and restore the centuries-old tradition of the community’s culture. For you as a traveler, this means that you can participate in authentic village culture and immerse yourself firsthand in the multi-faceted culture – learn more!

Picture by Muhaan

The origin of the Kholey Dai Festival

Parengtar is a small village on the border between India and Bhutan. You can recognize the village by its unique location on a plateau surrounded by green rice fields. Although Parengtar is still largely unknown, the village has a strong and ambitious community. This community is determined to make Parengtar known as a clean model village with strong cultural roots.

The annual Kholey Dai Festival, the rice harvest and folk music festival of the Parengtar community aims to revive and restore the age-old traditions of the community’s culture. The event is thus initiated by the rural community and also proudly positions itself as a zero-waste event.

Activities at the festival

What is very special about the festival is the active participation of the rural communities. This is even considered a key element of the community tourism model that is being developed in Parengtar by community members and the organizing team.

In order to involve the community members accordingly, local resources are used and a part of the income is used for the welfare of the Parengtar community. Some locals even offer their houses as overnight accommodation for visitors. Nowhere else can you stay more authentically and participate in the everyday life of another culture.

In addition to the exchange with the local population, visitors have the opportunity to taste the delicacies of the traditional local cuisine and to retrace the path from the rice field to the plate. There will also be numerous musical and cultural performances. From folk music, dances to art and craft forms.

Visit the local sights, go swimming or fishing, spend time together with villagers around the campfire or go on a unique hike in breathtaking scenery.

Our socialbnb Muhaan

Kholey Dai Festival is organized by Parengtar Nawlo Umanga Welfare Society in collaboration with Muhaan, Backwoods Adventure Camp and Cafe Kalimpong. Muhaan means “source” in Nepali. This is reflected in the sense of responsibility of socialbnb Muhaan – a social enterprise from Kalimpong that aims to provide environmentally friendly, sustainable and alternative livelihoods to people in remote villages.

We seek to do this by appropriately promoting the unique, important values of the rural ecosystem. We are a team of dedicated individuals from diverse backgrounds working to develop sustainable community tourism models in associated villages. Our long-term goal is to preserve the uniqueness of the rural ecosystem and provide sustainable livelihoods for people in remote villages. We accomplish this by empowering communities to utilize the resources available to them and from that build a community tourism model that benefits all sectors of the community.

Picture by Muhaan

If you are also interested in the country of Vietnam as your next travel destination, feel free to read this post about our backpacking tips in Vietnam. You can still try your luck to win a night in a socialbnb of your choice. All you have to do to get in the draw is sign up for our free newsletter. We keep our fingers crossed for you!

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