Trek Guide
Every major Nepal festival in 2026 with its exact date: Dashain (tika 21 October), Tihar (7–11 November), Indra Jatra, Holi and Buddha Jayanti.
By Maya Rai · Jun 15, 2026
Dates checked on 19 September 2026 against Nepal's official 2083 public-holiday list. We corrected Maha Navami to 20 October, Laxmi Puja to 8 November and the office-closure days below. Dashain and Tihar have their own page — every 2026 date, the tika time…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Holi (Fagu Purnima): March 3, 2026 — colour festival, Kathmandu and Pokhara Buddha Jayanti: May 23, 2026 — pilgrimage day at Lumbini and Swayambhunath Gai Jatra: August 19, 2026 — cow procession festival, Bhaktapur and Kathmandu Indra Jatra: September 25…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Nepal follows the Bikram Sambat (BS) lunar calendar, which runs about 56 years and 8.5 months ahead of the Gregorian calendar. Most Nepali festivals — Dashain, Tihar, Holi — shift by 10 to 14 days from year to year on the western calendar. The dates listed in…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Holi is celebrated across Nepal on the full moon of the Nepali month Falgun. In Kathmandu, the street celebration is concentrated around Basantapur Durbar Square and Thamel, where locals and travellers join in throwing coloured powder and water from morning…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The birth, enlightenment, and death of Siddhartha Gautama are all commemorated on the same full moon day in Baisakh (Nepali month). In 2026 this falls on May 23. The most important sites are Lumbini (birthplace of Buddha, 27m altitude, Terai region)…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Indra Jatra is Kathmandu's own festival, celebrating the Hindu god Indra and marking the end of the monsoon season . The centrepiece is the procession of the Living Goddess Kumari , who is carried through the streets of Kathmandu in a three-tiered wooden…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Dashain is Nepal's most important festival — the Nepali equivalent of Christmas, New Year, and Thanksgiving combined into fifteen days. The main celebration period for practical purposes is October 11–25 , encompassing the key ritual days of Ghatasthapana…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
October is the peak of trekking season in Nepal. Skies are clear, trails are dry, and visibility to peaks like Machhapuchhre (6,993m), Ama Dablam (6,812m), and Manaslu (8,163m) is at its annual best. The complication is that the TIMS permit counter, the ACAP…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Tihar is Nepal's festival of lights , falling five days after Dashain. Each of the five days honours a different being — crows, dogs, cows, oxen, and finally humans (Bhai Tika, the bond between brothers and sisters). The third day, Laxmi Puja (November 8 in…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Tihar's public holidays run from Sunday 8 to Thursday 12 November, so government offices and permit counters are shut for those five days and reopen on Friday 13 November. For trekkers mid-route, there is essentially no impact — lodges and teahouses celebrate…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
The sweet spots for combining festivals with optimal trekking conditions are narrower than they appear. Here is how the windows stack up: Late September + Indra Jatra: Spend 2–3 days in Kathmandu for the chariot procession, then begin a trek to Everest Base…
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
Travel Himalaya Nepal · News
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