The Sho Dun Festival (; ), commonly known as the Shoton or

Yogurt Yogurt (; , from , ; also spelled yoghurt, yogourt or yoghourt) is a food produced by bacterial Fermentation (food), fermentation of milk. Fermentation of sugars in the milk by these bacteria produces lactic acid, which acts on milk protein to ...

Festival or Banquet since "Sho" means Yogurt and "Dun" means Banquet, is an annual

festival A festival is an event celebrated by a community and centering on some characteristic aspect or aspects of that community and its religion or cultures. It is often marked as a local or national holiday, Melā, mela, or Muslim holidays, eid. A ...

held at

Norbulingka Norbulingka (; Wylie transliteration, Wylie: ''Nor bu gling ga''; zh, s=罗布林卡, t=羅布林卡; literally "Jeweled Park") is a palace and surrounding park in Lhasa, Tibet Autonomous Region, Tibet built from 1755.Tibet (1986), p.71 It ser ...

or "Jewel Park" palace in

Lhasa Lhasa, officially the Chengguan District of Lhasa City, is the inner urban district of Lhasa (city), Lhasa City, Tibet Autonomous Region, Southwestern China. Lhasa is the second most populous urban area on the Tibetan Plateau after Xining ...

Tibet Autonomous Region The Tibet Autonomous Region (TAR), often shortened to Tibet in English or Xizang in Pinyin, Hanyu Pinyin, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China. It was established in 1965 to replace the ...

. The festival is celebrated in the summer, from the 15th to the 24th of the 5th lunar month - usually about the middle of August, after a month's retreat by the monks who stay within their monasteries to avoid walking on the emerging summer insects and killing them. It began in the 11th century with a banquet given by the laypeople for the monks featuring yogurt. Later on, summer operas, or ''

Lhamo Lhamo (), or Ache Lhamo, is a classical secular theatre of Tibet with music and dance that has been performed for centuries, whose nearest western equivalent is opera. Performances have a narrative and simple dialogue interspersed with comedy ...

'', and theatricals were added to the festivities. The operas, "last all day with clashing cymbals, bells and drums; piercing recitatives punctuating more melodious choruses; hooded villains, leaping devils, swirling girls with long silk sleeves. In the past, dancers came from all over Tibet, but today there is only the state-run Lhasa Singing and Dancing Troupe."Catriona Bass. ''Inside the Treasure House: A Time in Tibet''. 1990. Victor Gollancz Ltd. paperback reprint. Rupa & Co. New Delhi, p. 201

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Festivals & Events in China
Annual events in China Events in Lhasa Tibetan festivals August Food and drink festivals in Tibet Religious festivals in Tibet Summer in China {{Lhasa Prefecture

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