Public holidays in Bhutan

Public holidays in Bhutan consist of both national holidays and local festivals or tshechus. While national holidays are observed throughout Bhutan, tsechus are only observed in their areas. Bhutan uses its own calendar, a variant of the lunisolar Tibetan calendar. Because it is a lunisolar calendar, dates of some national holidays and most tshechus change from year to year. For example, the new year, Losar, generally falls between February and March.

Bhutan has sixteen public holidays. Bhutanese holidays are rooted in the Drukpa Lineage of Kagyu Buddhism, the House of Wangchuck and the Tibetan calendar. Even secular holidays, however, have a measure of religious overtone, as religious choreography and blessings mark these auspicious days.

Nyinlong or Nyilong (Dzongkha: ཉིན་ལོང་, Wylie: nyin long "return of the sun"), the winter solstice celebration, is a public holiday falling on 2 January every year. Nyinlog is considered the most auspicious day of the year. It is celebrated like new year among some western Bhutan, though more so in the central and eastern regions, where the shortest day of the year is marked with archery and feasting. Farmers, on the other hand, may feel some chagrin as the solstice signals longer and longer work days ahead.

The Traditional Day of Offering (Dzongkha: buelwa phuewi nyim) is a holiday usually falling in January or February, on the 1st day of the 12th month of the calendar. The main purpose behind this holiday is to give thanks to Zhabdrung Ngawang Namgyal, the founder of Bhutan. It also focuses on charity, particularly feeding others, and recreation. The day is celebrated with feasting and traditional sports, including archery, digor, and khuru (darts). This holiday may have originally begun as a Bhutanese new year celebration.

...
Wikipedia