Genekha Mushroom Festival
Forest foraging walks, local produce stalls, and village cooking demonstrations in the hills above Thimphu.
Genekha Village, Bhutan
Step Into Bhutan's Genekha Mushroom Festival.
Walk into the forest trails and village life of Genekha, where Bhutan's rural food traditions come alive each August. This is Bhutan beyond the monastery circuit. Raw, local, and entirely your own.
Festival
15-16 Aug 2026
Location
Genekha, Bhutan
Duration
8 Days / 7 Nights
Group Size
Max 12 Guests
Guide
Licensed Bhutanese Guide
Limited Places. Small Groups. August 2026.
Why This Festival
Why the Genekha Mushroom Festival is unlike anything else in Bhutan
Most visitors to Bhutan follow the same trail: Tiger's Nest, a dzong, a monastery.
The Genekha Mushroom Festival takes you somewhere most travellers never reach, a working Bhutanese village during harvest season, where the forest, the food, and the community are the entire point.
No staged performances.
No tourist route.
Just Bhutan as it actually lives.
Small Groups
Intimate tours of 2 to 12 guests
Licensed Guide
A certified Bhutanese guide throughout
What You Will Experience
The Genekha Mushroom Festival, Tiger's Nest, and the real Bhutan.
Eight days through sacred dzongs, mountain passes, a valley homestay, and one of Bhutan's most intimate local harvest festivals, timed precisely for August.
Tiger's Nest Monastery
A 2 to 3 hour hike through pine forest to Taktsang, perched 800 metres above the Paro Valley floor.
Punakha Dzong
The fortress monastery at the confluence of two sacred rivers in the lush Punakha Valley.
Phobjikha Valley Homestay
Two nights with a Bhutanese family in Gangtey, sharing meals and learning village traditions.
Paro Dzong and Ta Dzong
The 17th century fortress monastery and the National Museum, plus an incense making workshop.
Plus the unmissable moments
- Genekha Mushroom Festival, 15 to 16 August
- Tiger's Nest Monastery hike
- Village homestay in Phobjikha Valley
- Punakha Dzong and Khamsum Chorten walk
- Dochu La Pass and the 108 memorial chortens
- Thimphu arts, crafts, and cultural sights
The Tour
8 days. 7 nights. Bhutan the way it was meant to be seen.
Start and finish in Paro. Small groups of 2 to 12 people. 6 nights in 3-star hotels plus 1 night at a traditional village homestay in Gangtey. Tour dates: 11 to 18 August 2026. Genekha Mushroom Festival: 15 to 16 August.
Day by day itinerary
Day 1
Arrive in Paro (11 Aug)
Arrive at Paro airport, then visit Ta Dzong national museum, Paro Dzong, and the Nado Poizokhang Incense Factory.
Day 2
Dochu La Pass and Chimi Lhakhang (12 Aug)
Cross the 3,050 metre Dochu La Pass with its 108 memorial chortens, then hike to the pilgrimage temple of Chimi Lhakhang in the Punakha Valley.
Day 3
Khamsum Chorten, Punakha Dzong and Phobjikha Homestay (13 Aug)
Walk to Khamsum Chorten, visit Punakha Dzong, then drive to Gangtey to settle into your traditional village homestay.
Day 4
Phobjikha Valley and Gangtey Monastery (14 Aug)
Nature walk through the valley, visit the 17th century Gangtey Monastery, and spend time with your host family.
Day 5
Genekha Mushroom Festival, Day 1 (15 Aug)
Travel to Thimphu via Rinchengang village and Wangdue Phodrang Dzong, then head to Genekha for the first day of the Mushroom Festival.
Day 6
Genekha Mushroom Festival, Day 2 and Thimphu (16 Aug)
Second day at the Genekha Mushroom Festival, then afternoon sightseeing in Thimphu: Memorial Chorten, Folk Heritage Museum, School of Arts and Crafts, and the weekend market.
Day 7
Tiger's Nest Hike (17 Aug)
Hike to Taktsang Monastery, then visit Drukgyel Dzong ruins and the 7th century Kyichu Lhakhang temple. Optional hot stone bath and farewell farmhouse dinner.
Day 8
Free Time and Depart Paro (18 Aug)
Free time in Paro before your airport transfer and departure flight.
Mandala Hotel, Paro
Where You Stay
Your Accommodation in Bhutan
Six nights in carefully selected 3-star hotels, the Mandala Hotel in Paro, RKOP Green Resort in Punakha, and the Ariya Hotel in Thimphu, plus one night at the Gakiling Guest House homestay in Gangtey. All hotels meet strict Bhutanese government standards. August brings lush green landscapes after the early monsoon rains.
- Mandala Hotel, Paro
- RKOP Green Resort, Punakha Valley
- Gakiling Guest House homestay, Gangtey, Phobjikha Valley
- Ariya Hotel, Thimphu
“Bhutan is one of those destinations where the details really matter, the right departure date, the right guide, the right community. I have helped a lot of travellers get this one right. Let's make sure yours is perfect too.”
Mariska Knoesen, Sales Manager at Encounters Travel
Questions about the Mushroom Festival, the homestay, what to expect in August in Bhutan, or flights into Paro? Chat directly with Mariska.
Some places ask you to slow down. Bhutan insists on it.
Practical Details
Everything you need to know.
- Tour
- Bhutan Encounters, Genekha Mushroom Festival Departure
- Duration
- 8 days and 7 nights
- Start and End
- Paro to Paro
- Festival Dates
- Genekha Mushroom Festival: 15 to 16 August 2026
- Tour Dates
- 11 to 18 August 2026
- Group Size
- Small group, 2 to 12 travellers
- Accommodation
- 3-star hotels plus Gangtey village homestay
- Meals
- 7 breakfasts, 6 lunches, 7 dinners
- Region
- Bhutan: Paro, Punakha, Phobjikha Valley, Thimphu, Genekha
About the Genekha Mushroom Festival
A harvest celebration in the hills, and why August is the best time to see Bhutan.
The Festival
What is the Genekha Mushroom Festival?
Genekha is a small village in the hills above Thimphu, reached by a winding road through pine and fir forest. Every August, as the monsoon rains bring the mushroom season to its peak, the community gathers to celebrate the harvest with a festival rooted in Bhutan's relationship with the forest and the land.
The festival is not a performance for tourists. It is a genuine community event: stalls selling wild mushrooms, local vegetables, and seasonal produce; cooking demonstrations using ingredients pulled straight from the surrounding forest; and the kind of unhurried, open conversation that happens when a village is proud of where it comes from.
For travellers who want to understand Bhutan beyond its famous landmarks, the Genekha Mushroom Festival offers something genuinely rare: access to a living food culture, in a working village, at the exact moment the forest is most alive.
August
peak mushroom season in Bhutan's forests
15-16 Aug
2026 festival dates
Why Genekha
Why this festival is the best reason to visit Bhutan in August.
◎
A festival rooted in place
The Genekha Mushroom Festival is not an invented attraction. It is a community celebration that happens because the forest produces it, and your presence is welcome, not the reason it exists.
★
The right time to be in Bhutan
August is monsoon season, which means fewer crowds, lush green landscapes, and a Bhutan that feels fully alive. The Genekha festival turns what most travellers avoid into the best possible reason to go.
⌂
Village life, not village tourism
Genekha is a working community. The homestay element of this tour connects you to the same world as the festival, a Bhutan of farms, forests, and families, not just temples and trekking routes.
✓
Timed into the tour, not added on
This departure is specifically scheduled around the 15 to 16 August festival dates. You will be in Genekha when it matters, with a licensed local guide who knows the village and the festival.