Bhutan – land of happiness, magic and myth – is now welcoming DJs, street artists and dancers, beatboxers and creative thinkers from across the world for a collaborative 10-day festival.
It’s mid-afternoon in Clock Tower Square in the Bhutanese capital, Thimphu. Prayer flags flutter in the breeze against an ice-blue sky, mountain peaks melt into the horizon and the crowd, complete with crimson-clad monks, jostles for space on the stone steps. As the sound of hip-hop fills the air, dance troupes with names like Urban Boomers and Half Dead Guys take to the stage. Bhutan’s first-ever street dance battle is under way and it’s serious stuff.
It may not be the first thing you’d expect in this remote Himalayan kingdom – a mystical Buddhist nation that famously measures gross national happiness instead of GDP – but the show is part of the brand new Annual Bhutan International Festival. A 10-day programme of art, music, film and food, held for the first time in February, it’s all about collaboration between nations and across genres. London choreographer Jade Shaw has been working with local youngsters, who had previously relied on YouTube to learn dance moves, weaving in messages about leadership and respect along the way. It’s a triumph. Rapturous laughter and applause erupt from the audience, most of whom have never seen anything like this.
Bhutan map
Landlocked between giants India and China, tiny Bhutan is one of the most intriguing countries in the world. Tourism was not permitted until 1974 (it remains tightly controlled) and the country’s ancient culture thrives almost intact. The street dance session is held on the birthday of much-loved King Wangchuck and the crowd – the men all wearing a gho, a tunic with big white sleeves, the women in colourful ankle-length kira dresses – have already enjoyed a morning of traditional celebrations, with masked dances, strong-man races and archery competitions in the town’s stadium.
But with the arrival of the internet (television was only allowed in 1999), a curious young population (60% of the country is under 25) is dipping its toe into the world outside.
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“Bhutan hasn’t been open very long,” says festival co-founder Thinley Palden Dorji. “We’ve protected our culture, but change is inevitable. The influence of the world is there: it’s now a question of how we engage with it. The festival aims to give the youth a platform to express themselves, learn from international artists and share ideas.”
In a world saturated with festivals, this one is set apart by more than its unusual, beautiful location. It’s the first project from EdenLAB, a new creative touring initiative from Cornwall’s Eden Project. More than 100 international artists, performers and thinkers have been brought in to work alongside 200 local artists, with the aim of creating a lasting legacy, providing funding for the arts and setting up ongoing workshops and long-term relationships. Smaller events are planned throughout the year to maintain the momentum. And with Queen Jetsun Pema on board as patron, it has had a very big Bhutanese thumbs-up.
“The vision is for a world-class festival that’s unique in its focus on collaboration and community,” says co-director Ginny Galloway. “It’s about youth and legacy and the fusion of a culture that’s so intact with that of the modern world.”
February is low season for tourism, so boosting visitor numbers and injecting cash into the economy is part of the plan, too. And though lacking the colours of spring or the lushness of the late summer, it’s is a time of crisp, days and freezing, star-filled nights – and the king’s birthday and Buddhist new year celebrations are the same week.
Arriving in Bhutan was an adventure in itself. The flight into Paro airport skims the Himalayas: all faces were glued to the windows for a glimpse of Everest. Then it was an hour’s winding drive past paddy fields and lost-in-time villages to the capital.
It doesn’t take long to get the lie of the land in Thimphu, population 100,000. The Wang Chhu river skirts its western edge and, on a hilltop, a 51-metre-high gilded Buddha, one of the largest in the world, overlooks the city. This is the only capital in the world with no traffic lights: white-gloved police direct traffic from a prettily painted stand in the main roundabout. There’s an almost medieval feel about the old centre, with its wooden-shuttered buildings; the vibe is remarkably laid-back and the people gentle.
It’s a short walk between festival venues, and Coronation Park, by the river, is the site of most of the art programme. I watch sculptors from Cornwall crafting a huge snow leopard and a horse out of bamboo and paper; artists from VAST Bhutan, the country’s only contemporary arts centre painting people’s portraits; and potters from South Africa swapping techniques with local artists.
Most intriguing perhaps is Dance Spectroscopy, an art-meets-science affair which makes invisible particles in the atmosphere around you visible on a big screen, and creates a soundscape as you move. A group of children giggle and play, fascinated by the shapes and music. In a dome tent next door, British sonic artist Mileece has crafted a musical Eden, where plants play tunes when touched.
For those made peckish by all that art, Clock Tower Square is full of food stalls offering Bhutanese regional specialities (buckwheat pancakes from Haa in the west, yak skin stew from northern Gasa, jomja rice patties from Paro). Los Angeles chefs Roxana Jullapat and Daniel Mattern are here too, learning about Bhutanese fare and running workshops for local chefs.
As the days unfold, a constant stream of talent takes to the stage – monks from Majuli, in the Indian state of Assam, perform a mesmerising dance, then Bhutanese rock band Flying Kik scream out Rage Against the Machine covers. Other surprises are the beatboxers – MC Xander and Bellatrix from the UK, and Chesney Snow from the US, and rapping from BBC4 Poetry Slam champion Dizraeli.
As darkness and the temperature falls, the action moves to Mojo Park, a bar and music venue where visitors might catch musicians from the Harvard-Radcliffe Orchestra jamming with Bhutanese guitarists and beatboxers – or Indian pop star Lucky Ali and Mercury-nominated UK indie folk artist Nick Mulvey treating fans to an intimate gig before their stadium turn. Later, night owls head to Vivacity, a nearby club with guest DJs each night. In such an intimate setting it feels like one big party. There’s a constant buzz in the air – the Bhutanese hosts and artists excited to have the festival in town, visitors simply excited to be here.
Another thing that’s different from your average festival is that everyone stays in hotels. My base is the brand new Le Meridien, the biggest in Thimphu with 78 rooms, and a major festival sponsor. It’s here that the film events take place (Woodstock Film Festival is an adviser) and there are TEDx and TEDx Youth talks to coincide with the festival. Inspiring speakers muse, appropriately, on the theme of happiness, and eloquent Bhutanese children tell of the reality of life here – with, as everywhere, problems of drugs, depression and suicide.
