𝐌𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐬 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐁𝐢𝐨𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬

… 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝒁𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒈𝒂𝒏𝒈 𝒍𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒇𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒗𝒂𝒍 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒆, 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘𝒄𝒂𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒅𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒉𝒐𝒐𝒅𝒔

By Kinga Choki

As anticipation builds for the Winter Manas Festival, communities across Zhemgang Dzongkhag are preparing for what many describe as one of the most important economic opportunities in the region. Despite being frequently labelled as one of Bhutan’s least developed dzongkhags, residents argue that Zhemgang is rich in biodiversity, culture, and tourism potential. For them, the annual festival is more than a celebration. It is a rare platform that delivers income, exposure, and new confidence to farmers, artisans, and small businesses.

At the forefront of this hope is the newly established Panbang Youth Cooperative, where Processing Manager Pema Thinley sees the event as essential to sustaining the cooperative’s young processing unit. Having begun operations only a few months ago, the cooperative focuses on developing, value-adding, and packaging locally available Renewable Natural Resources (RNR) products.

Thinley explained that their current product line includes three flavors of lemon tea and ginger garlic paste, items that were first introduced along with seven products during the Bhutan Bird Festival. At the upcoming Manas Festival, the group plans to launch a few additional products, bringing the total to ten, including local honey, smoked dried chicken, chicken pickle, and fresh fried prawn.

For Thinley, the festival represents a critical marketplace that is unavailable in the dzongkhag on ordinary days. He expects the cooperative to earn more than Nu. 100,000 from product sales during the event. However, the income will not be deposited into personal accounts. Instead, it will be shared among the staff to sustain their livelihood and meet pressing needs such as school expenses for children and daily household requirements.

He explained that the income may be a one-time earning, but for families struggling at the start of a new academic year, the support is significant.

The challenge, Thinley said, is that selling even a single product per day is difficult in Zhemgang’s limited market. As a result, members of the cooperative often rely on other works such as farming, nursery jobs, plumbing, and electrification tasks to make ends meet. The festival, though short-lived, brings them the kind of direct market access that they rarely experience throughout the year.

Beyond individual earnings, Thinley views the festival as a potential long-term development catalyst if planned and implemented strategically. He acknowledges the dzongkhag’s reputation as poverty-driven but argues that poverty is not a natural condition of Zhemgang.

Instead, he believes it stems from unequal distribution of economic activities, limited developmental projects, and policies that do not fully match local needs. With the government’s growing attention toward agro-tourism and eco-tourism, along with infrastructure development and capacity-building initiatives, he believes Zhemgang could see dramatic improvements in livelihood and living standards in the near future.

The festival’s impact extends beyond cooperatives and into some of Zhemgang’s most remote communities, such as the craft-weaving villages of Bjoka. For artisan-seller Phuntsho Choden, who represents cane and bamboo products from Bjoka, the Manas Festival is a vital commercial opportunity. She collects handmade items from local villagers such as traditional baskets, plates (bangchung), and various storage containers crafted from locally sourced cane and bamboo and brings them to the festival to sell.

Choden said selling in the village is extremely limited because the customer base is small. At the festival, however, she meets hundreds of buyers from multiple dzongkhags, including tourists. The exposure is far greater, and sales happen much faster compared to village markets. For her and the weavers she represents, the festival creates direct access to customers without relying on middlemen, enabling better prices and immediate cash income.

The products she brings reflect Bjoka’s long-standing tradition of cane and bamboo weaving, a skill passed down through generations and rooted in the region’s sustainable lifestyle. Yet, despite the cultural richness, the artisans face significant challenges. Transporting goods from remote chiwogs such as Chapdenpa, Barpong, and Dali is time-consuming and costly. Moreover, since all items are handmade, supply depends on available materials and production time.

Choden explained that the festival helps overcome some of these obstacles by allowing artisans to sell large quantities of products directly over a short period. She added that visitors have responded positively to the products this year, particularly appreciating their eco-friendly nature and traditional craftsmanship.

Buyers seem especially interested in practical household items and decorative pieces suitable for gifting. Choden believes that increased promotion of local products and more transportation support would help artisans grow their businesses and sustain their livelihoods beyond festival periods.

The broader significance of the Manas Festival lies in its ability to stimulate Zhemgang’s local economy in multiple ways. The event creates temporary employment opportunities for residents, including stall management, cultural performances, guiding services, transport, food service, and logistics. Farmers benefit by selling their agricultural produce directly to customers, gaining better market prices and learning what products visitors prefer. Small business owners also gain exposure that is otherwise unavailable in remote communities.

Rinchen Tshering, a Gup of Ngangla Gewog, described the festival as a powerful tool for strengthening community identity and cultural pride. It brings together people of different ages, backgrounds, and villages in one shared space, facilitating cultural exchange and reinforcing social bonds. Through the festival, communities can showcase the dzongkhag’s traditions, natural beauty, and tourism potential to visitors from outside.

However, residents and community organizers caution that long-term impact requires thoughtful planning. Without follow-up measures, the festival risks remaining a short-term economic boost rather than a transformative development tool. Zhemgang continues to face major challenges including limited infrastructure, inadequate accommodation facilities, high operational costs, dependence on government support, and a shortage of marketing and business skills among rural groups. These constraints hinder the dzongkhag’s ability to fully capitalize on the opportunities created by such events.

Despite these obstacles, optimism remains strong. For both the Panbang Youth Cooperative and the artisans of Bjoka, the Manas Festival symbolizes opportunity, dignity, and economic resilience. Residents say the event brings hope not just for immediate income but for a future where Zhemgang’s rich culture, biodiversity, and entrepreneurial spirit can be meaningfully connected to wider markets. In a region often defined by its limitations, the festival stands out as a bridge toward a more prosperous and confident community.

For residents of Zhemgang, the Manas Festival is more than a celebration. It is a lifeline of opportunity, dignity, and hope for a more prosperous future.