Winterline Carnival

Mussoorie, the Queen of Hills gears up to host the five-day annual Mussoorie Winterline Carnival every December from 25th to the 29th / 30th of the month. Multiple activities are organized and the venue is beautifully decorated like a jewel. Adventure sports like paragliding and bungee jumping keep the carnival in high spirits. Cycling and skating are an added bonus. Visitors can shop at stalls that sell clothes, food, handicraft, footwear and leather items as well as sing and dance to traditional Garhwali, rock and instrumental music. Puppet shows and camel rides are organized for children while a food festival providing memorable gastronomic experiences keeps one and all enthralled. Camp-fires are set-up at night for those who like a nip in the air. Apart from the above, every year in winters, something magical happens in Mussoorie. It's a special natural phenomenon which takes place only in a few places across the world, and Mussoorie is one such place. It's the WINTER LINE PHENOMENON, visible from mid-October to mid-January, and it adds to the delight of tourists thronging the hill town. It is also a photographer's delight. The winterline is a sharp line in the sky which is more like a faux horizon line. So before the sun actually sets across the real horizon, in this part of the world, it disappears across a faux horizon. Dehradun Valley is warm so the hot air rises up, while the air in the sky around Mussoorie is very cold during winter. As air with different temperatures meet, it gives rise to a sharp line - the lower part is dark, and the cooler air is light blue. This line is always there, but just before sunset, due to refraction of light, the line lits up beautifully as a golden sharp line while the sun disappears behind the lower portion of the sky which is dark in color. Every winter evening, scores of visitors can be seen gazing towards the Doon valley from the Mall Road (in Mussoorie) in awe and amazement at this meteorological phenomenon. Thus this carnival is truly a 'one-stop-shop' during the holiday season.