• The Halda festival celebrations began in the Gahar and Tinan valleys of Lahaul and Spiti district.
• To celebrate the festival, villagers cut thin cedar branches into pieces and tie them into bundles to make a torch called ‘halda’.
• The torch is lit at a house where villagers gather to perform various rituals, besides singing and dancing.
• The aim of the festival is to appease local deities, seek better crop yield and ward off evil spirits.
• The Halda festival is similar to Diwali and starts on a full moon day.

It is dedicated to Shishkar Apa, who is believed to be the goddess of wealth in the Lamaistic pantheon