Verified dates · Trek-planning impact · Updated July 21, 2026
Nepal Festival Calendar 2026–2027
The dates that matter for planning a Nepal trip — Dashain, Tihar, Indra Jatra, Mani Rimdu, Holi and Tiji — each verified against the official lunisolar calendar, with what every festival actually does to flights, buses, teahouses and trekking logistics. Festivals whose dates are not yet officially fixed are marked honestly as awaiting confirmation, and this page is updated the moment they are.
2026 — the season ahead
Indra Jatra (Yenya)
ConfirmedSeptember 23–30, 2026 · main day Friday, September 25
Kathmandu Durbar Square
Eight days of chariot processions — the living goddess Kumari drawn through the old city — masked dances and lamplit processions.
For trekkers: Perfect pre-trek culture stop: it falls right at the start of the autumn season, before the October crowds. Kathmandu hotels around Durbar Square fill early.
Dashain
ConfirmedOctober 11–25, 2026 · main Tika day Wednesday, October 21
Nationwide — Nepal’s biggest festival
Fifteen days honouring Durga’s victory; families travel home for blessings from elders on the main Tika day.
For trekkers: The trails stay open but the country travels home: domestic flights and long-distance buses book out weeks ahead around Tika, and some teahouses run on thin staffing. Book Lukla flights early or start your trek before October 18.
Mani Rimdu
ConfirmedPublic days October 26–28, 2026 (centred on the October full moon; 19-day ritual cycle from October 8)
Tengboche Monastery (3,867m), Everest region
The Khumbu’s great Sherpa Buddhist festival — masked Chham dances, the Wong blessing, and a fire puja in the courtyard beneath Ama Dablam.
For trekkers: The single best festival to build a trek around: time an Everest Base Camp itinerary to pass Tengboche in the last week of October. Dates follow the Tibetan lunar calendar — confirm with the monastery before locking flights.
Tihar (Deepawali)
ConfirmedNovember 7–11, 2026 · Laxmi Puja November 9 · Bhai Tika November 11
Nationwide
Five days of lights — days honouring crows, dogs and cattle, oil lamps on every sill, and the brother-sister Bhai Tika blessing.
For trekkers: Gentler on logistics than Dashain but expect a second, smaller travel crunch around Bhai Tika. Kathmandu and Pokhara are at their most beautiful, lit for Laxmi Puja.
2027 — plan ahead
Nepali festivals follow lunisolar calendars, so Gregorian dates shift every year. We publish a 2027 date only once it is verifiable; everything else is honestly marked as awaiting the official calendar.
Holi
ConfirmedMarch 22, 2027 (Kathmandu & hills; Terai celebrates the following day)
Nationwide — biggest in Kathmandu’s Basantapur
The festival of colours on the Phalgun full moon — one exuberant day of colour-throwing.
For trekkers: Falls at the start of the spring season. A fun Kathmandu day before heading to the trailhead — keep electronics in a dry bag.
Tiji Festival
Await official dateTypically mid-May; 2027 dates set by Lo Manthang’s monastic calendar — we publish them here once announced
Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang
Three days of masked dances in the walled city — the myth of Dorje Jono driving out the demon of drought.
For trekkers: The reason to time an Upper Mustang trek for May: restricted-area permit required, and the monsoon barely touches this rain-shadow kingdom.
Dashain
ConfirmedMain Tika day Saturday, October 9, 2027 (full festival window released with Nepal’s official calendar)
Nationwide
As every year — the fifteen-day national homecoming.
For trekkers: Note it lands ~12 days earlier than in 2026: the 2027 flight-and-bus crunch will sit in the first half of October, right at the autumn-season peak. Plan around it.
Tihar (Deepawali)
Await official dateExpected late October 2027, following Dashain — exact days confirmed when the official calendar is released
Nationwide
The festival of lights, five days.
For trekkers: Will overlap the heart of the autumn trekking window in 2027 — check back for confirmed dates before booking internal flights.
Mani Rimdu
Await official datePublic days on the 2027 autumn full moon at Tengboche — announced by the monastery; we update this page when confirmed
Tengboche Monastery, Everest region
Masked dances and blessings beneath Ama Dablam.
For trekkers: If you are planning an autumn 2027 EBC trek around it, hold your dates until the monastery confirms — the Tibetan lunar calendar can shift it by weeks between years.
Why the dates move every year
Nepal runs on the lunisolar Bikram Sambatcalendar: months track the moon, with periodic corrections to stay aligned with the solar year. Hindu festival days are fixed by lunar phase (Dashain’s Tika day falls on the tenth day of the bright fortnight of Ashwin), so their Gregorian dates drift by up to three weeks between years. Sherpa and Tibetan Buddhist festivals — Mani Rimdu, Losar, Tiji — follow the Tibetan lunar calendarinstead, with dates fixed by each monastery. That is why any site showing exact festival dates years ahead is guessing: the honest ones say “confirmed when the calendar is released,” and update.
Citing this calendar
Bloggers and publishers are welcome to use these dates with attribution:
Source: “Nepal Festival Calendar 2026–2027”, Travel Himalaya Nepal — travelhimalayanepal.com/nepal-festival-calendar
Time your trek to a festival
Mani Rimdu on an Everest itinerary, Tiji behind the walls of Lo Manthang, or Tihar’s lamplight in Pokhara before the trail — tell us your dates and we will build the trip around the moment.