Kholey Dai: Experience Kalimpong’s Unique Zero-Waste Harvest Festival This Winter

Nestled in the mist-laden hills of the Kalimpong district, Parnegtar is a small eastern Himalayan village on the Indo-Bhutan border. Named after ‘pareng’, a local bamboo species, and ‘tar’, meaning ‘plateau’ in the local language, the village was once known for its bamboo groves. For generations, Parengtar’s people have lived by the seasonal rhythms of the landscape, bound together by collective traditions like ‘parma’, a barter system of mutual labour that created social and ecological ties as strong as the bamboo that surrounded the village.

For generations, every evening during the harvest season, old and young, men and women, children and elders, all came together to harvest rice. In the ‘Khaley Gara’ — a plot of farmland cleaned and levelled with cow dung — paddy stalks were spread out, and as the community worked, they sang and performed the ‘Dhaan Nach’, the harvest dance, turning labour into joy. By night’s end, after completing the Dai, everyone sat together in the Khaley Gara to enjoy hot Kholey prepared from freshly harvested rice. This practice brought the whole village together, ensuring that each household had its harvest ready and no family was left behind.

But as younger generations began migrating to the cities and the old ways slowly faded, the community found itself at a crossroads. The songs of harvest, the sound of threshing fields, and the rituals that once marked the cycle of life in the Himalayan foothills began to fade. To counter this cultural loss, the people of Parengtar, through the Parengtar Nawlo Umanga Welfare Society and in collaboration with local organisations like Muhaan, Café Kalimpong, Tag Along, and The Earth Circle, revived the Kholey Dai Festival in 2021. What began as a modest community gathering has since grown into a three-day celebration that draws over 3,000 visitors annually. Yet despite its scale, Kholey Dai has remained true to its roots: a harvest festival owned and shaped by the Parengtar community, built on zero-waste principles, and deeply attuned to the landscape that sustains it.

Kholey Dai is a community-driven initiative aimed at reviving traditional rituals such as ‘dhaan nach’, collective threshing, and field songs, along with the values they embody: unity, appreciation, and reverence for the land. The festival combines the old with the new, honouring ancestral customs while also reflecting the hopes of younger generations. Each year, folk musicians, storytellers, and dancers from the eastern Himalayas perform, turning Parengtar into a vibrant repository of cultural heritage. 

Daytime workshops on heirloom seeds, culinary traditions, crafts, and biodiversity invite visitors to learn directly from local practitioners, fostering rare opportunities for exchange among farmers, artists, and travellers. Curated performances by local, regional, and cross-border artists provide a dedicated stage for Himalayan folk art and culture. Each year, unique folk acts enliven the evenings, while daytime programs showcase cultural performances from various communities and tribes across the region. Together, they form a vivid, vibrant mosaic of heritage and living traditions.

Sustainability influences every aspect of the event. Festival structures are constructed from locally-sourced bamboo, hay, and reused fabrics; plastic is completely banned; and food stalls are operated by local families serving traditional Himalayan cuisine. Over 40 homestays now accommodate guests during the festival, generating nearly ₹10 lakhs in annual revenue while ensuring that the economic benefits remain within the community. Notably, the festival produces less than three kilograms of plastic waste each year. It rejects the profit-driven festival model, instead promoting a vision where culture, ecology, and community coexist.

For the community of Parengtar, Kholey Dai is a declaration of continuity. It honours the past, sustains the present, and imagines a future in which the songs of the harvest still echo across the hills.

Learn more about the Kholey Dai Festival here.

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