Decked out in their finest, hundreds of people in Trashigang thronged the courtyard of the dzong today as the annual tshechu began.
Tourists were among the crowd that flocked to witness the festival as monks and laymen put on a spectacular show of mask dances and other cultural performances.
The four-day festival ends Thursday with the unfurling of thongdrels for public veneration.
The annual Trashigang Tsechu was instituted more than 300 years ago by the Third Druk Desi Chogyal Minju Tenpa.