Mountain Echoes Festival Bhutan 2019
Livingstone Foundation International had a rare privilege of being invited to the 10th edition of the Mountain Echoes Festival 2019 which was held in Thimphu, Bhutan from 23rd to 25th August 2019. LFI was represented by 5 students who were accompanied by the Chairman, Director and Academic Coordinator. Mountain Echoes is an annual festival of Art, Literature and Culture. An initiative of the India-Bhutan Foundation in association with Siyahi, Mountain Echoes brings together various cultures, forming an ideal platform for literature, discourse, debate and cultural exchange. Her Majesty the Royal Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck is the Chief Royal Patron of the festival while Namita Gokhale, Pramod Kumar KG, Tshering Tashi and Kelly Dorji are the Festival Directors. Over the past nine years, Mountain Echoes festival has embraced and explored deeper insights into the arts and culture of Bhutan, India and the world.
This year the festival hosted a number of sessions, workshops, performances, film screenings, and an open mic. Some of the prominent speakers and personalities for this year’s festival included Her Excellency Ambassador Ruchira Kamboj, Ambassador of India to Bhutan, Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Bhutanese politician, environmentalist and cultural advocate and the former Prime Minister of Bhutan; Dasho Karma Tshiteem, Board Member of Kitu Foundation; Dasho Yanki T. Wangchuk, member of the board of the Tarayana Foundation; Jason Quinn, writer and editor; Kelly Dorji, actor, artist and travel facilitator who is also the Director of Mountain Echoes; Lisa Choegyal, famous writer; Lopen Lungtaen Gyatso, President, College of Language & Culture Studies and the Pro Vice Chancellor of Royal University of Bhutan; Neil MacGregor, Chairman, International Advisory Group, Humboldt Forum, Berlin; Sonia Singh, famous journalist from NDTV; Tshering Chhoden, senior TV producer with BBS and Vanessa R. Sasson, professor of religious studies in the Liberal Art Department of Marianopolis College, Canada.
Some of the prominent places that the LFI team visited while in Bhutan included the Royal Bhutan Palace, Bhutan Secretariat, MP hostels, Mojopark, Dochula Pass, Punakha and Paro Taktsang.
