Fifty years ago this year the Beatles made their first visit to India, and among the highlights of the Bhutan Mountain Echoes Literary Festival in August will be a tribute to that event.

This will be the ninth incarnation of the three day Bhutan festival (August 23-25), headed by Naseeruddin Shah, Ratna Pathak and Usha Uthup, with the delightful theme Untouched Beauty, Unexplored Ideas, and Unstoppable Voices from Himalayas.
Said Bhutanese author and festival co-director Tshering Tashi,

Mountain Echoes has become a key event in the Bhutanese calendar bringing both the curious and the intellectual minds together for three days of fun. The niche festival will spark the imagination of both local and global audiences through a diverse range of electrifying conversations.

With a population of just over 800,000 and less than 400,000 internet users the Himalayan Kingdom of Bhutan is not a powerhouse of global literature, but the Mountain Echoes Festival is a reminder, if needed, that even the smallest countries on the planet have much to offer.