Festivals

Arunachal has more than two dozen major tribal festivals, most tied to harvest or new year. The Ziro Music Festival every September is the one outsiders plan around — four days of indie and folk acts on a paddy field ringed by pine hills — but the older festivals are the deeper experience: Nyokum among the Nyishi and Solung among the Adi in September, Mopin among the Galo in April, and Losar and Torgya in the Tawang monasteries in the depth of winter.

Dates shift with the lunar calendar and are often confirmed only a couple of months ahead, so festival trips are built with some flex. Village festivals welcome visitors but are not staged for them — you are a guest at someone's celebration. Bring a small gift if you are hosted, and ask before joining a dance or a ritual line.