Diwali 2026: The Festival of Lights Falls on a Sunday, November 8

When is Diwali 2026?

The main day of Diwali, the night of Lakshmi Puja, falls on Sunday 8 November 2026. The date follows the lunar calendar: Diwali is fixed to the new-moon night of the month of Kartik, the darkest night of the season, which is precisely the point of filling it with lamps.

A Sunday Diwali cuts both ways. India grants no substitute day, so the gazetted holiday is absorbed by the weekend and offices lose nothing to the calendar. But workers gain nothing either, and in a festival built around an evening at home, the practical difference is smaller than it looks: the lamps, the puja, and the sweets go ahead identically whether Monday looms or not.

Five days, one festival

Diwali is the peak of a five-day arc. It opens with Dhanteras, the traditional day for buying gold and new utensils and reliably the year's biggest day for Indian jewellers. The eve brings Naraka Chaturdashi, called Chhoti Diwali in the north. Then the main night, when Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity, is welcomed into homes lit with oil lamps. The days after bring Govardhan Puja and finally Bhai Dooj, honouring the bond between brothers and sisters.

Bank and office closures cluster on the main day and one adjacent day, varying by state, and in 2026 the Sunday collision means many states' practical holiday shifts entirely onto those adjacent days.

Not the same date everywhere

Even within India the festival splits: in much of the south, Deepavali is celebrated on Naraka Chaturdashi, a day ahead of the northern Lakshmi Puja, so Tamil Nadu often lights up an evening before Delhi. Singapore and Malaysia follow the southern reckoning for their Deepavali public holidays, and in 2026 both observe it in the same November window, with Singapore's Sunday collision triggering its automatic Monday-in-lieu, a courtesy India does not extend.

Nepal stretches the season further with Tihar, its five-day sibling festival, where the second day belongs, delightfully, to dogs.

What actually closes

On the main day and its state-designated holidays: banks, government offices, schools, and the stock markets, which observe Diwali but famously open for one ceremonial hour of Muhurat trading, a tradition the exchanges have kept for decades. Shops do the opposite of closing: the fortnight before Diwali is Indian retail's Christmas, and markets run late every night.

One more planning note: air quality. The days after Diwali are reliably Delhi's worst of the year, and flight delays from smog are common enough in mid-November to build slack into any travel plans.

The calendar context

Diwali closes a dense stretch of the 2026 Indian calendar that began with Dussehra on Tuesday 20 October, and it is followed by Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday 24 November. The full list, national and festival dates alike, is on our India holiday calendar, alongside Singapore, Malaysia, and Nepal for the wider Deepavali map.