People of Ura, in Bumthang, are worried about the sustainability of their Mushroom festival. They say stakeholders need to do more or it might become increasingly unpopular in the future.
This year, the Ura Gewog administration solely financed the 8th edition of the Mushroom festival as well as took care of the logistics and management of the celebration.
The mushroom festival saw fewer visitors and tourists. People say this could be due to the poor yield of Matsutake mushroom in the valley this season.
“The harvest was not good this year as compared to the previous seasons. This could be because of unfavourable weather and scanty rainfall during the mushroom season,” said Lhawang Dhendup, from Ura Gewog in Bumthang.
They added that the fewer visitors turning up could be because of the cancellation of the festival last year due to the parliamentary elections.
“Last year, after we made all the announcements, we had to cancel the festival in the end as it coincided with the parliamentary elections. This could be why we received lesser tourists this year,” said Khandu Wangchuk, the Ura Gup, Bumthang.
Moreover, people are worried about the sustainability of the festival. There was no seed money kept for the festival when it was initially founded about a decade ago. The Phrumsengla National Park which is based in Ura supported the festival for several years but the park has started withdrawing financial support from this season.
“As the Mushroom Festival not only benefits Ura Gewog and Bumthang Dzongkhag but because it has a national significance, we are hoping the Tourism Council of Bhutan (TCB) would take extra initiative for the festival and intensify their support in terms of finances and marketing so that we can equally stay motivated,” the Ura Gup added.
“If the government could grant some budget for the festival and if the sustainability of the festival is assured, the festival would benefit us in so many ways. Firstly, the arrival of tourists will help generate some income for the country. Secondly, people get to readily buy lots of goods from the stalls here and moreover, the festival serves as a marketplace for the farmers who can’t sell their mushrooms elsewhere,” added Tenzin, the Chairperson of Somthrang Mushroom Group in Ura, Bumthang.
The TCB’s Director-General, Dorji Dhradhul said the TCB has funded the festival with a budget ranging from 3 to 5 hundred thousand ngultrums for initial 3 to 4 years. He also said that due to a new regulation issued by the Department of Budget last year, such festivals had to be budgeted by the gewog offices themselves. Moreover, he added that despite the new budgetary regulation, the TCB informed Ura Gup to submit the bills for the expenditure incurred for the festival this year so that TCB can bear the expenses.
He also added that the office is aware of the fewer number of tourist arrival at the festival and that the TCB is working towards marketing and promoting the festival and other new festivals in the country through social media, tour operators, international media and international conferences.
Besides the sustainability of the festival, outsiders encroaching and collecting Matsutake and other mushrooms from Ura is also another challenge for the people.
“Encroachment of our mushroom habitat by the people who do not have their census in Ura Gewog is the biggest challenge we are facing as the national highway runs through the Matsutake environment. Elsewhere in Cordyceps growing places, only people who have their census registered in the particular area are allowed to collect Cordyceps from the area but here we are facing difficulties without such a system in place,” said Lhawang Dhendup.
“Because of the easy access to mushrooms and a farm road to Shingkhar where Matsutake grows in abundance, we are finding it difficult to stop the intruders,” shares the Somthrang Mushroom Group Chairperson.
The Mushroom Festival is one of the main tourist attractions of Ura Gewog. However, besides some mask dances and other cultural performances, there are not much of mushroom related events at the festival. Therefore, people say, the festival needs to mushroom oriented so that the theme of the festival is justified. Today, there are more stalls selling clothes and toys than there are mushrooms at the festival.
Kipchu
