When is Diwali? Dates for 2026, 2027 and Every Year to 2035

Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. That is the main day — Lakshmi Puja — and the full five-day festival runs from Friday 6 November (Dhanteras) to Tuesday 10 November (Bhai Dooj). Diwali's date changes each year because the festival follows the Hindu lunar calendar: Lakshmi Puja falls on the new moon (Amavasya) of the month of Kartika, which usually lands in October or November. Below you'll find the full 2026 and 2027 schedules, Deepavali 2026 in South India, Singapore and Malaysia, a calendar of every Diwali date to 2035, and past Diwali dates back to 2019.

Preparing already? Browse 50+ rangoli designs, read the step-by-step Lakshmi Puja guide, or pick out Diwali wishes to share.

Last reviewed on 12 June 2026.

Diwali 2026 Date

The main day of Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) in 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The five-day festival begins two days earlier, with Dhanteras, and continues for two days afterwards.

Because the main day falls on a Sunday in 2026, several countries that treat Deepavali as a public holiday — including Singapore and Malaysia — observe Monday, 9 November 2026 as a holiday in lieu, making it a natural long weekend for travel and family visits.

Deepavali 2026 in South India, Singapore and Malaysia

In Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala — and in the diaspora communities of Singapore, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Mauritius — the festival is known as Deepavali and the principal day is Naraka Chaturdashi, when families take a ritual oil bath before sunrise. In many years this places Deepavali one day before the North Indian Lakshmi Puja date, but in 2026 the two coincide: Deepavali 2026 falls on Sunday, 8 November 2026, the date listed as a public holiday in Tamil Nadu, Singapore and Malaysia.

The pre-dawn oil bath (Ganga snanam) is taken on Deepavali morning, new clothes are worn, and homes are decorated with kolam and rangoli designs at the threshold. If you follow a specific temple or community calendar, check its panchang — observances occasionally differ by one day depending on when Chaturdashi tithi prevails at dawn for your location.

Diwali 2027 Date

In 2027, Lakshmi Puja falls on Friday, 29 October 2027. As always, regional traditions can shift the observance of one or two days; verify the local panchang if your community follows a specific almanac.

Diwali 2028 Date

Looking further ahead, Diwali 2028 (Lakshmi Puja) falls on Tuesday, 17 October 2028 — one of the earliest Diwalis of the decade. The five-day festival runs from Dhanteras on Sunday 15 October to Bhai Dooj on Thursday 19 October 2028. Dates this far out are stable for the main day, though the exact puja muhurat for your city is published closer to the year in local panchangs.

Diwali Kab Hai (दिवाली कब है)?

Readers often ask "Diwali kab hai?" — "When is Diwali?" Diwali typically falls in October or November, on the Amavasya (new moon) night of the Hindu month of Kartika. In 2026 the main day is on 8 November; in 2027 it is on 29 October. Because the lunar and solar calendars don't line up neatly, the Gregorian date shifts by roughly eleven days each year, which is why Diwali sometimes appears in mid-October and other years in early November.

Future Diwali Dates: 2026 to 2035

Here is a ten-year reference for planning ahead — weddings, travel, school calendars and leave requests. Dates listed are for the main day of Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) and may be observed one day earlier or later in some regional traditions.

For the full meaning behind each of the five days — Dhanteras, Naraka Chaturdashi, Lakshmi Puja, Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj — see our page on Diwali traditions and significance. If you're preparing the puja itself, our Lakshmi Puja guide walks through a typical home observance.

Past Diwali Dates: When Was Diwali?

Filling in a form, checking a memory or comparing years? These were the main Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) days for recent years:

The split observances in 2024 and 2025 happened because Amavasya straddled two evenings in those years — see how the date is calculated below for why that occurs.

Why is Diwali 2026 So Much Later Than 2025?

Diwali 2025 fell on 20 October; Diwali 2026 falls on 8 November — a jump of 19 days later, when the festival normally moves about eleven days earlier each year. The reason is a leap month. The Hindu lunisolar calendar inserts an extra month (adhik maas) every two to three years to stay aligned with the seasons, and the Vikram Samvat year preceding Diwali 2026 contains one. The added month pushes the whole festival season — Navratri, Dussehra and Diwali — roughly three weeks later than the previous year. The same pattern explains the late Diwalis of 2031 (14 November) and 2034 (10 November) in the table above.

How the Date is Calculated

Diwali follows the Hindu lunisolar calendar, which tracks both the moon's phases and the sun's position. The main day — Lakshmi Puja — falls on Amavasya, the new-moon night, of the lunar month of Kartika. Because a lunar month is roughly 29.5 days but a solar year is 365.25 days, the lunar months drift against the Gregorian calendar by about eleven days a year. To keep the calendar aligned with the seasons, an extra month (adhik maas) is inserted every two to three years.

The practical effect is simple: Diwali normally moves about eleven days earlier each Gregorian year, until an adhik maas resets it roughly a month later. This is why Diwali sometimes falls in mid-October and other years in early November.

Different almanacs (panchang) can occasionally produce dates one day apart for the same festival. This usually happens when Amavasya straddles two evenings — for example, beginning on the afternoon of one day and ending the following afternoon. Some traditions follow the rule that the puja should be performed during the pradosh kaal (the period just after sunset) when Amavasya is in effect, which can shift the observance to the evening before or after depending on local longitude.

Time of Day for Lakshmi Puja

Most almanacs identify a specific window for performing Lakshmi Puja on the main day. This is called pradosh kaal with sthir lagna — roughly, the period after sunset that falls within a "fixed" astrological sign. For the average household this window is between sunset and approximately two hours after.

If you don't follow a specific panchang, sundown to about three hours after is a safe and traditional time to begin. The exact muhurat (auspicious time) for your city varies by latitude and longitude and changes year to year. A local Hindu calendar or a panchang app will give the year's window for your location.

Is Diwali a Public Holiday?

It depends on where you live:

• India — Diwali (or Deepavali) is a gazetted holiday nationwide, with most states adding one or two adjoining days. Schools commonly take a longer Diwali break.
• Singapore and Malaysia — Deepavali is an official public holiday. When it falls on a Sunday, as in 2026, the following Monday is a holiday in lieu.
• Fiji, Mauritius, Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Suriname, Sri Lanka, Nepal (as Tihar), Myanmar — the day is a national public holiday.
• United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand — Diwali is not a general public holiday, though it is widely celebrated; some cities, school districts (including New York City schools) and employers observe it. With Diwali 2026 on a Sunday, most diaspora celebrations will run across the 6–8 November weekend.

Diwali and Other Festivals on the Same Night

Lakshmi Puja shares its date with several other observances that happen the same evening:

• Kali Puja in Bengal, Assam and Odisha — on the same Amavasya night, with the goddess Kali at the centre rather than Lakshmi.
• Bandi Chhor Divas for Sikhs — commemorating the release of Guru Hargobind from imprisonment. The Golden Temple in Amritsar is lit with thousands of lamps.
• Diwali in Jain tradition — marking the day of Mahavira's nirvana. Lamps are lit because, as the tradition has it, "the spiritual light of the Tirthankara has departed; the lamps remind us to keep our own light".

The five-day Diwali sequence and the Nepali Tihar festival overlap closely, with Lakshmi Puja typically falling on the third day of Tihar.