The third Red Panda Festival is scheduled to be held in Ilam from Chaitra 20 to 23. The festival is being organized with the aim of conserving the rare wild animal Red Panda and promoting tourism.

At a press conference in Kathmandu on Monday, Sanam Rai, coordinator of the festival organizing committee, said that the festival is being organized with the ‘Red Panda Trail’ based trekking tourism as its centerpiece. The approximately 40-kilometer-long trekking route connects various tourist sites from Maipokhari to Jaubari. On this route, various species of birds, wildlife, and biodiversity, including Red Panda, can be studied and observed. The festival will be organized in Kalpokhari, Sandakpur Rural Municipality-4.

According to the organizers, the main attractions of the festival will be the experience of Red Panda trekking, jungle safari, and bird watching. Similarly, in addition to studying 18 species of monkeys here, the culture of indigenous peoples will also be observed. Coordinator Rai said that more than 60 mountain ranges, including the world's highest mountain, and hundreds of species of birds can be observed. The organizers aim to attract 10,000 domestic and foreign tourists to Sandakpur during the festival.

Dil Kumar Limbu, Chief Administrative Officer of the festival organizer Sandakpur Rural Municipality, expressed confidence that this festival will also help promote the municipality's major destinations. Earlier, the first Red Panda Festival was organized from Chaitra 27 to Baisakh 1, 2080 and the second from Chaitra 20 to 23, 2081. It is said that the aim is to promote forest tourism in eastern Nepal through Red Panda.