The Tsurphu Festival takes place in the fourth month of the Tibetan calendar, usually falling in May or June. The centrepiece is the unfurling of an enormous thangka — a painted silk scroll several storeys high depicting the Karmapa — on the hillside above the monastery. The display lasts for only a few hours before dawn, visible from the valley below and drawing pilgrims from across the region.
The festival also features cham dances, performed by monks in elaborate costumes representing wrathful and peaceful deities, and dharma teachings. For visitors timing a trip to Lhasa, the Tsurphu Festival provides a reason to make the 70-kilometre detour up the Tolung valley, and the combination of the festival crowd and the mountain setting makes for a very different experience from the more touristed festivals in central Lhasa.