Gujarati festivals
Dates, significance, and observances for each festival — and how families in the diaspora actually celebrate. Search or browse below.
August 28, 2026
Raksha Bandhan
રક્ષા બંધન
The day a sister ties a rakhi on her brother's wrist and the two renew a promise to look out for each other. The thread, the tilak, the sweet — that's the whole of it.
September 4–5, 2026
Janmashtami
જન્માષ્ટમી
Krishna's birth, marked at midnight in a Mathura prison. Pushtimarg families rock the infant Krishna in a cradle and sing "Nand ke Anand bhayo" as the clock turns.
September 8–15, 2026
Paryushana
પર્યુષણ
The most important festival of the Jain year — eight or ten days of fasting and reflection, closing with Samvatsari, the day of universal forgiveness: "Micchami Dukkadam."
September 14–25, 2026
Ganesh Chaturthi
ગણેશ ચતુર્થી
Ganesh's birthday — the remover of obstacles, invoked before anything new. Families install a murti at home, offer modak, and end with visarjan, sending the year's obstacles back into the water.
October 11–19, 2026
Navratri
નવરાત્રી
Nine nights for the goddess, and the Gujarati community's biggest cultural event — garba and dandiya raas circled around the lamp-lit garbo, in chaniya choli and kediyu, peaking on Ashtami and Navami.
November 6–11, 2026
Diwali
દિવાળી / બેસતું વર્ષ
The five-day heart of the Gujarati year: Lakshmi Puja on the dark-moon night, Chopda Pujan over the business ledgers, and Bestu Varas — the Gujarati New Year — the morning after.
January 15–16, 2027
Uttarayan
ઉત્તરાયણ
The day the sun turns north — and in Gujarat, the day rooftops fill with kites from sunrise to sundown. The food is undhiyu and til-gud, sesame sweets for a sweet-spoken year.
March 6, 2027
Mahashivratri
મહાશિવરાત્રિ
"The great night of Shiva" — the one major festival kept entirely at night. Families fast, then bathe the Shiva lingam in milk and bilva leaves through the four watches till dawn.
March 22–23, 2027
Holi
હોળી
A festival in two acts: the Holika Dahan bonfire on the eve, and Dhuleti — the color day — the morning after. Gujaratis save the gulal for day two.
April 15, 2027
Ram Navami
રામ નવમી
Ram's birth, marked at noon at the close of Chaitra Navratri. Vaishnava families keep the day with fasting and a Ramayana reading — often the Sundarkand recited in full.
May 9, 2027
Akha Teej
અક્ષય તૃતીયા
One of the year's few whole-day-auspicious dates — no pandit needed to pick a muhurat. Anything begun today, from a business to a marriage, is believed to keep giving.
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