Kalash Uchal Harvest Festival

Trip highlights

• A Kalasha festival without the crowd

  Uchal draws a fraction of the visitors Chilam Joshi does, and in Rumbur or Birir you may be one of very few outsiders present.

• The herds coming down

  Shepherds returning from the high summer pastures with cheese made up there over the season — the whole point of the festival, and it is handed round.

• Three nights in the valleys

  Rather than a day trip, and weighted to the two smaller valleys where the festival is least altered by being watched.

• Late-August Chitral

  The fort, the bazaar, the polo ground in town, and Tirich Mir at 7,708 metres clear of cloud more often than in spring.

At a glance

• 8 days, late AugustUchal runs about three days, set by the Kalasha calendar.
• Three nights in the valleysWeighted to Rumbur and Birir, the two quieter valleys.
• The quiet festivalA fraction of the visitors Chilam Joshi draws in May.
• A Kalasha guide in the valleysLocal, paid directly, and the reason it makes sense.
• Chitral and the Hindu KushTirich Mir, 7,708 m, over the town on a clear morning.
• Hotels and valley guest housesRooms are far easier to get than in May.
• No altitudeThe valleys are around 2,000 m. Nothing here goes high.

Day by day

1. 1Day 1Arrive Islamabad

   Met at the airport, driven to the hotel, and a briefing over dinner — what Uchal is, how it differs from the spring festival, and the handful of things worth knowing before arriving somewhere people live.

2. 2Day 2Fly to Chitral

   

   An hour over the Lowari, or seven hours through the tunnel if the cloud is down. Late August is the better end of the year for this flight — the monsoon is easing and Tirich Mir is out more often than not. Afternoon in Chitral: the fort, the Shahi Mosque and the bazaar.

3. 3Day 3Chitral into Rumbur

   

   Two hours by jeep up the track beside the river into Rumbur, the steeper and quieter of the two main valleys. Arrive in the afternoon as the festival is getting going. Rumbur has fewer guest houses than Bumburet and that is the reason we use it.

4. 4Day 4Uchal — the herds come down

   

   The festival's core: shepherds returning from the high pastures with the summer's cheese, milk and cheese shared out, bread baked, and the first of the dancing in the charso through the afternoon. Between it all, the valley in late summer — cut fields, heavy walnut and mulberry trees, apricots drying on the roofs.

5. 5Day 5Birir, and the second day of the festival

   

   Across to Birir, the smallest and least visited of the three valleys, where Uchal is at its least altered. On foot between the hamlets, and the dancing again in the late afternoon. If the schedule in Bumburet is stronger this year we go there instead — the valleys do not keep identical calendars and our guide will know by the time you arrive.

6. 6Day 6The last morning, and back to Chitral

   

   A final morning in the valleys for the closing dances, then down the track to Chitral in the afternoon. A hot shower and a proper bed.

7. 7Day 7Fly to Islamabad

   The morning flight, or the Lowari road if it is grounded — which is why this day exists rather than flying on day 6. Afternoon in Islamabad and a last dinner.

8. 8Day 8Departure

   Transfer to Islamabad International. A day room is arranged if your flight is late.

Good to know

**The dates**

Uchal falls in the second half of August and runs about three days. Like the rest of the Kalasha calendar it is confirmed by the valleys rather than published a year ahead, so treat late August as the window and book with us before you commit to international flights.

**Uchal or Chilam Joshi?**

A fair question and the answer depends on what you want. Chilam Joshi in May is the spectacle — the most colourful, the most photographed, the one with the crowd, and the one where finding a bed in Bumburet takes months of notice. Uchal in August is the harvest, it is quieter by a large margin, and in Rumbur or Birir you may be among very few outsiders there.

If you want the images you have seen of massed dancers in full dress, come in May. If the appeal is being somewhere that is still mostly for the people whose festival it is, come in August. We run both.

**How to be there**

Uchal is a religious festival, not a show. Ask before photographing anyone and particularly before photographing women closely — the answer is usually yes and the asking is the point. The *bashali*, the women's house, and the altars above the villages are off limits to all outsiders and to Kalasha men too. If you are offered a place in the dance, take it. Our guide will walk you through all of this on the way up.

**Late August weather**

Warm days in the valleys, around 28 to 30 °C, and comfortable nights. The monsoon is easing by then but the tail of it can still bring rain to Chitral and make the jeep track slippery. A light waterproof is enough. The valleys sit near 2,000 metres so there is no altitude issue.

**Accommodation**

Simple valley guest houses — clean, basic, hot water sometimes from a bucket. Rooms are much easier to come by than during Chilam Joshi, which is one of the practical arguments for August. Chitral and Islamabad are ordinary hotels.

**Getting to Chitral**

The flight is an hour; the Lowari tunnel road is about seven. The flight cancels in cloud, so the itinerary carries a buffer day in Chitral at the end and we will not book you a same-day international connection.

Questions about this trip

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