The Lhuntse Tsechu is a small but vivid three-day festival in the dzong courtyard. Masked dances retell episodes from the life of Guru Rinpoche and his Bhutanese disciples; the crowd is local, the costumes are extraordinary, and the giant thangka unfurled on the final morning is one of the more striking moments in any Bhutanese tsechu.
Timing a Lhuntsi visit to coincide with the tsechu means committing to winter travel — cold nights, possible early snow on the high passes — but the festival is the single best reason to come to this corner of Bhutan.