Nepali festivals explained for visitors
Dashain and Tihar between roughly late September and November are the two that shut the country down — expect closed offices, packed buses and empty cities. This guide explains what each major festival is, what you will actually see, whether you can join in, and how festivals affect travel plans.
Nepal has an extraordinary number of festivals, because it stacks Hindu, Buddhist, Newar, Kirat, Islamic and regional calendars on top of each other and then adds public holidays for most of them. Some are national shutdowns; some are single-valley spectacles.
For a visitor this cuts both ways. Arriving during Dashain means seeing the country at its most alive and also finding half of it closed. Knowing which is which lets you plan for the good version.
Dashain — the big one
Dashain (दशैं) is Nepal's longest and most important festival, running about fifteen days in September or October, celebrating the goddess Durga's victory over the buffalo demon Mahishasura. It is the Nepali equivalent of Christmas in scale and social weight combined.
What you will see: cities emptying as people travel to their ancestral villages, bamboo swings (ping) built in every village, kite flying, animal sacrifice at temples on Maha Ashtami and Navami, and on Bijaya Dashami, elders applying red tika and jamara — yellow barley shoots — to the foreheads of younger relatives, with blessings and money.
What it means for travel: government offices, banks and many businesses close for days. Long-distance buses are full to overflowing and prices rise. Kathmandu becomes unusually quiet and pleasant. Trekking is largely unaffected once you are on the trail, and this is peak trekking season anyway.
Tihar — the festival of lights
Tihar (तिहार), also called Deepawali, follows a couple of weeks after Dashain and runs five days. It is visually the most beautiful thing in the Nepali year.
Each day honours something different: crows on the first, dogs on the second (Kukur Tihar, when street dogs are garlanded and given tika), cows on the third along with Laxmi Puja when houses are lit with oil lamps and marigolds for the goddess of wealth, oxen or the self on the fourth, and on the fifth Bhai Tika, when sisters give brothers a seven-coloured tika and a blessing for long life.
Groups of children and adults sing deusi and bhailo door to door in the evenings, and are given money and food. If they come to your guesthouse, giving a little is expected and enjoyed by everyone.
The other major festivals
Roughly in calendar order, with what actually happens:
- Maghe Sankranti (mid-January) — marks the sun's northward turn; people eat til ko laddu, chaku, sweet potato and ghee, and bathe at river confluences.
- Losar (January–March, varying) — Tibetan and Himalayan new year, celebrated by Sherpa, Tamang, Gurung and Tibetan communities. Boudhanath in Kathmandu is the place to see it.
- Maha Shivaratri (February–March) — the great night of Shiva. Pashupatinath fills with hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and sadhus from across Nepal and India. Spectacular, crowded, and the one night cannabis use around the temple is customarily tolerated for sadhus.
- Holi (February–March) — the colour festival, celebrated a day apart in the hills and the terai. Enormous fun and genuinely messy; expect to be covered in powder and water. Women travellers should be aware that the crowds can get boisterous.
- Nepali New Year / Bisket Jatra (mid-April) — Baisakh 1. Bhaktapur's Bisket Jatra, with its enormous chariot and pole-raising, is the spectacle.
- Buddha Jayanti (April–May) — Buddha's birth, enlightenment and death. Lumbini, Swayambhunath and Boudhanath.
- Janai Purnima and Raksha Bandhan (July–August) — sacred thread changed by Brahmin and Chhetri men; a thread tied on the wrist for everyone. Gosaikunda lake is a major pilgrimage.
- Gai Jatra (August) — Newar festival of cows, for families who lost someone in the past year, with satire and street performance. Kathmandu valley.
- Teej (August–September) — women fast and dance in red saris for their husbands' long life; hugely photogenic and increasingly a celebration of women's solidarity.
- Indra Jatra (September) — the Kathmandu valley's great festival, with the Kumari's chariot procession, masked dances and the raising of the Yosin pole.
- Chhath (October–November) — a major terai and Madhesi festival honouring the sun god, with beautiful dawn and dusk rituals at riverbanks.
Can you join in?
Broadly yes, and enthusiastically. Nepali festivals are public, and visitors who show interest are usually pulled in rather than kept out.
- Accept tika if it is offered. It is a blessing, not a conversion, and refusing is awkward.
- Say 'Subha Dashain' or 'Subha Tihar' — happy Dashain, happy Tihar. It will delight people.
- Give a small amount to deusi-bhailo singers at Tihar; that is the whole point of the custom.
- Play Holi if you want to, but wear clothes you will throw away and use eye protection. Say no clearly if you do not want to be coloured — and be aware that not everyone will respect that in a crowd.
- At animal sacrifice during Dashain, you are welcome to be present but do not photograph it as spectacle. If it distresses you, simply do not go — nobody will mind.
- Do not enter a private family ritual uninvited, and always ask before photographing people at worship.
Planning around them
The practical calendar, honestly.
The Dashain and Tihar period — roughly late September to mid-November depending on the lunar calendar — is simultaneously the best trekking weather of the year and the most disrupted time for anything administrative. Permits, visa extensions, banking and business all slow down or stop.
Book domestic flights and long-distance buses well ahead during Dashain, when the entire country is travelling. Conversely, Kathmandu's hotels and restaurants are quieter and the traffic is transformed.
Because most Nepali festivals follow lunar calendars, dates move each year. Check a Nepali patro (calendar) for the year you are travelling rather than assuming last year's dates.
Key takeaways
- ✓Dashain (15 days, Sept–Oct) and Tihar (5 days, Oct–Nov) are the two that shut the country down.
- ✓Dashain empties cities and fills buses; Tihar lights them up and includes a day honouring dogs.
- ✓Visitors are welcomed into festivals — accept tika, say 'Subha Dashain', give to deusi singers.
- ✓Festival season overlaps peak trekking weather but stops banking, permits and government offices.
- ✓Dates follow lunar calendars and move every year — check a Nepali patro for your travel year.
Nepali Festivals Explained — FAQ
What is Dashain?+
Nepal's longest and most important festival, running about fifteen days in September or October and celebrating the goddess Durga's victory over the demon Mahishasura. It culminates in Bijaya Dashami, when elders apply red tika and yellow jamara shoots to younger relatives' foreheads with blessings and money.
What happens during Tihar in Nepal?+
A five-day festival of lights honouring crows, dogs (Kukur Tihar, when street dogs are garlanded), cows and Laxmi with oil lamps and marigolds, and finally Bhai Tika, when sisters give brothers a seven-coloured tika. Singers perform deusi and bhailo door to door in the evenings.
Is it a good time to visit Nepal during Dashain?+
It is a wonderful time to see the country and a difficult time to get administrative things done. Offices, banks and permit desks close for days, and buses and domestic flights are packed. Trekking is largely unaffected once you are on the trail, and this is peak trekking weather.
Can tourists join Nepali festivals?+
Yes, and you will usually be invited in rather than kept out. Accept tika when offered, wish people 'Subha Dashain' or 'Subha Tihar', and give a little to deusi-bhailo singers at Tihar. Always ask before photographing people at worship, and do not enter private family rituals uninvited.
When is Holi in Nepal?+
February or March, following the lunar calendar, and celebrated a day apart in the hills and the terai. It is enormous fun and extremely messy — wear clothes you will discard, protect your eyes, and be aware that crowds can become boisterous.
Related guides
Sources & data note
Customs vary enormously across Nepal's 142 recorded caste and ethnic groups, its religions and its regions, and between generations and between city and village. Everything described here is the mainstream, widely-observed practice a visitor is most likely to meet — it is our own synthesis of documented Nepali cultural practice, not a rule that applies identically to every Nepali household. Where a practice is contested, changing or legally restricted, that is stated in the text. Population, language and religion figures are cited to the 2021 census. Guides are written from primary sources — Nepali government departments, operators, park authorities and standards bodies — and each guide lists the sources used for its own facts. Rules, fees and prices in Nepal change; treat figures as current at the review date shown on each guide and verify anything money- or visa-critical with the issuing authority before you rely on it.
- Nepal Tourism Board — official site (destinations and traveller information)Nepal Tourism Board ↗
- National Population and Housing Census 2021 — religion, language and caste/ethnicityNational Statistics Office, Nepal ↗
- Vikram Sambat / Bikram Sambat calendar (commonly cited reference)Wikipedia ↗
- Department of Archaeology — monuments, heritage sites and temple regulationDepartment of Archaeology, Nepal ↗
- Kathmandu Valley — UNESCO World Heritage listingUNESCO ↗