Centenary Farmer’s Market, Thimphu

Located within the heart of Thimphu city; around 10 minutes’ drive away from Clock Tower, Centenary Farmer’s Market is the perfect place to witness the local life of Bhutan. Inaugurated in 2008 by Her Highness Ashi Dechen Yangzom Wangchuck, this local marketplace is a 2-story building that houses almost 400 stalls. Local farmers from across Bhutan throngs this market to trade their fresh agricultural and domestic produce.

Centenary Farmer’s Market has its own fame; here, farmers can be seen occupying the stalls starting from Thursday night. The market usually opens on every Friday morning and continues till Sunday night. Over these three days, locals swarm in to buy their required commodities that mainly include fresh vegetables, varied rice items, local spices, milk products, and lot more.

The ground floor of the building is the place where you can find all the fresh produce and the top floor is the place where you would find local harvest. Fruits, vegetables, herbs, spices, dried seeds, seasonal fruits, traditional yeast used in local wine making, pure and organic honey, cherry pepper, banana flower, etc. are some of the most common items in this market. Adding more to the list, Centenary Farmer’s Market is also an ideal spot to buy rice varieties like puffed rice (Boyo Zaw), crispy rice crackers (Colourful Mekhu), roasted flattened maize (Tengma), roasted rice (Zaw), pounded rice (Kharang), and roasted ground wheat (Kabchi).