The Mountain Echoes festival in Thimphu, Bhutan is a melting pot of thoughts and ideas, celebrating a wide range of artistic mediums: literature, visual arts, photography, theatre, film, music, and dance. The festival returns with its tenth edition 23 to 25 August 2019. The theme for this edition of Mountain Echoes is Many lives: Many Stories.
The festival is an initiative of the India-Bhutan Foundation and enjoys the patronage of Her Majesty the Royal Queen Mother Ashi Dorji Wangmo Wangchuck. Festival directors include known literary names such as Namita Gokhale, Pramod Kumar KG, Tshering Tashi and Kelly Dorji.
Confirmed international speakers attending the festival include Xyza Bacani, a Filipina documentary photographer based in Hong Kong; Neil MacGregor, director of the National Gallery, London (1987-2002) and director of the British Museum (2002-2015); and Australian digital rockstar, Toby Walsh, professor of Artificial Intelligence at the University of New South Wales and Data61; amongst others.
The festival will also witness Indian speakers, including Venerable Kabir Saxena, founder and director of Root Institute for Wisdom Culture and a monk since 2002; actress Bhumi Pednekar; principal economic advisor to the Government of India Sanjeev Sanyal; and Shivya Nath, author of the bestselling travel memoir The Shooting Star, along with other prominent names from various disciplines.
Eminent Bhutanese personalities from different spheres such as Lt Col Kesang Choeden (retd), the founder of Chuniding Food, an organic and heritage food enterprise; Khenpo Karchung, a monk and a Sanskrit teacher at Tago Dorden Tashithang Buddhist University; Lopen Lungtaen Gyatso, President of the College of Language and Culture Studies, and the Pro-Vice Chancellor of Royal University of Bhutan; author Chador Wangmo and technology entrepreneur, finance and economics writer, marketing strategist, FORBES 30 under 30 Sonam Pelden along with other renowned names will be holding sessions on various subjects.