The end of June in Pokhara marks the start of the rice planting season. The Paddy Plantation Festival kicks off the season of plowing and planting work. This festival is not only tradition, but it is also used to bring tourists in to Pokhara during the offseason. It started off with beautiful traditional music with lots of horns of all tones, drums and hand cymbals. The music was very intoxicating as it was like nothing I have heard before. All the communities came here dressed in their village colours and then the dancing erupted with the music. Women danced with mounds of rice plants on their head without so much of a wobble of it falling off. The men were not left out, they brought their best moves and wowed the crowds. There was then a procession to walk to the paddy fields that were be used for the competition. The music didn’t stop when the procession started, they played all the way to the fields. The atmosphere was electric and calm all at the same time. Once we arrive I jockeyed for position to get photos of the ox plowing races. I got right up front, but careful not to be in a splash zone. Snuggled between the locals I was one of the few tourists in this area. As the contestants set up their ox and plows, I was getting excited to see how this all played out. Then without so much as a horn to start the races, they were off. Started off a little slow to get their rhythm, the mud and water quickly started flying and splashing anyone in their way. It was a heated race with one man definitely in the front running. It was amazing to see the way they move the ox. To turn the corners they twisted their tails in that direction. The crowd cheered on their favourite opponent while the competitors were yelling out commands. It all came to an uneventful end and the crowd slowly dispersed to other areas. I headed over to the food tent, got a plate and sat down on the grass with some friends. I saw a crowd forming around a tented area, I go closer to investigate and I heard the now familiar music. The musicians from that morning were on one end of the tent with a crowd gathered in a semi circle to make way for any people that needed to dance and there was not a shortage of these people. This day was as much for the tourists as it is for the locals. The festival had such a joyful atmosphere with everyone having a constant smile on their face that I would recommend anyone to make their way here for this occasion.