15 Festivals You Shouldn't Miss in Nepal

Nepal celebrates more than 50 festivals a year, drawn from the traditions of the 142 caste and ethnic groups recorded in the country's 2021 census. The biggest, Dashain, runs for 15 days in September or October; Tihar fills five nights with lamps and marigolds; and street festivals such as Indra Jatra and Bisket Jatra turn the old Newari cities into open-air theatre. Some festivals follow the lunar calendar and shift dates each year, so this list gives the season for each one. Here are the ten festivals most worth planning a Nepal trip around, and our guide to the best treks to experience local festivals pairs several of them with trails.

Bisket Jatra (April)

Bisket Jatra is a week-long Newari new year festival centred on Bhaktapur, and it is the rare major festival that follows the solar calendar, starting around April 10 and spanning Nepali New Year. Chariots carrying the god Bhairab are pulled through the streets in a tug of war between the city's eastern and western halves, a 25-metre wooden pole is raised and toppled, and the neighbouring towns add their own versions: Sindur Jatra (a vermilion-throwing procession) in Thimi and a tongue-piercing rite in Bode. It is the most intense few days on the Kathmandu Valley's festival calendar.

Ropain: Rice Planting Day (June/July)

Ropain is the rice-planting festival held in the month of Ashad, with National Paddy Day falling on Ashad 15 (late June). Farmers across the hills transplant rice seedlings in flooded terraces, and visitors are welcome to wade in: mud-splashing, impromptu wrestling, music, and a meal of dahi-chiura (yogurt with beaten rice) are all part of the day. Organised Ropain events run in and around the Kathmandu Valley every year, and it is the most hands-on festival a traveller can join.

Teej (August/September)

Haritalika Teej is a three-day Hindu women's festival in the month of Bhadra. Married women return to their maternal homes, feast on dar (a rich pre-fast meal) the first evening, then keep a strict fast, traditionally without water, for the long life of their husbands, while unmarried women fast for a good future match. Dressed in red saris and bangles, women dance and sing for hours, and the crowds at Kathmandu's Pashupatinath temple, where the fast is dedicated to Lord Shiva, are among the most photogenic scenes of the festival year.

Dashain (September/October)

Dashain, Nepal's longest and most important festival, honours the goddess Durga across 15 days in the month of Ashwin. It opens with Ghatasthapana, when households sow jamara (barley, wheat, and rice shoots) in a dark room, builds through Phulpati, Maha Asthami, and Nawami, and peaks on Vijaya Dashami, when elders place tika (vermilion mixed with yogurt and rice) and jamara on younger relatives' foreheads with blessings. Kathmandu empties as millions travel to family homes; kites fill the sky, bamboo swings (ping) go up in villages, and the festival closes at the full moon of Kojagrat Purnima. For travellers, it is the best window into Nepali family life, though buses and flights book out around Dashami.

Tihar (October/November)

Tihar, the five-day festival of lights, is Nepal's version of Diwali with a distinctly Nepali sequence of animal worship. Day one honours crows as Yama's messengers; day two is Kukur Tihar, when dogs receive garlands, tika, and treats (the photos go global every year); day three pairs cow worship with Laxmi Puja, when homes are cleaned and lit with oil lamps and marigold garlands so that Laxmi, the goddess of wealth, will visit. Day four includes Mha Puja, the Newari worship of the self that marks the Newar New Year, and day five is Bhai Tika, when sisters bless their brothers. Groups go door to door singing Deusi and Bhailo songs in exchange for food and money, and the lit-up evenings make it the most beautiful week to be in a Nepali city.

Indra Jatra (September)

Indra Jatra is Kathmandu's biggest street festival, eight days of masked dances, processions, and ritual around Kathmandu Durbar Square in honour of Indra, the god of rain. The festival opens with the raising of a ceremonial wooden pole (the lingo) at Basantapur in front of the old Hanuman Dhoka palace, and its centrepiece is the chariot procession of the Kumari, the living goddess, pulled through the old city over three evenings. Lakhey demon dancers, the elephant figure Pulukisi, and butter-lamp-lit shrines fill the nights until the pole is lowered to close the festival.

Maha Shivaratri (February/March)

Maha Shivaratri, "the great night of Shiva", draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims and sadhus (Hindu holy men) to Kathmandu's Pashupatinath temple, the most important Shiva shrine in Nepal. Devotees fast, bathe, and keep an all-night vigil with chants of "Om Namah Shivaya", while ash-smeared sadhus from across Nepal and India meditate, pose for photographs, and tend bonfires. Consumption of bhang (a cannabis preparation considered dear to Shiva) is traditionally tolerated on this one night, which adds to the festival's otherworldly atmosphere. For photographers, no other day at Pashupatinath comes close.

Holi (February/March)

Holi, the festival of colours, marks the arrival of spring on the full moon of Falgun, with celebrations split across two days: the hill regions including Kathmandu and Pokhara play on the first day, and the Terai follows on the second. Streets fill with coloured powder, water balloons, and music; Basantapur Durbar Square and Thamel host the biggest crowds in the capital, and a week beforehand the ceremonial chir pole goes up at Basantapur to open the season. Wear clothes you can throw away, keep your camera in a dry bag, and join in; spectating is not really an option.

Buddha Jayanti (April/May)

Buddha Jayanti, on the full moon of Baisakh, commemorates the birth, enlightenment, and passing of Siddhartha Gautama, who was born in Lumbini in Nepal's western Terai around 563 BCE. Lumbini itself holds the largest ceremonies, while in Kathmandu the stupas of Swayambhunath and Boudhanath fill with butter lamps, circumambulating pilgrims, and monks in procession. Both Buddhists and Hindus observe the day, and visiting either great stupa at dusk, ringed with lamps, is one of the calmest and most moving festival experiences in Nepal.

Maghe Sankranti (January)

Maghe Sankranti, on the first day of the month of Magh (mid-January), marks the sun's northward turn and the slow end of winter. Families eat foods believed to bring warmth and strength: sesame laddus, chaku (hardened molasses), ghee, sweet potatoes, and yams, and ritual baths are taken at river confluences such as Devghat. The same day is Maghi, the new year of the Tharu community of the Terai, celebrated with feasts and dances, and it is one of the best dates to experience Tharu culture around Chitwan and Bardia.

Five More Festivals Worth Catching

Losar (December to March, by community)

Losar is the Himalayan new year, and Nepal celebrates three: Tamu Losar of the Gurung community in late December, Sonam Losar of the Tamang in January or February, and Gyalpo Losar of the Sherpa and Tibetan communities in February or March. Families feast, monasteries hold masked dances and prayer ceremonies, and the Boudhanath stupa in Kathmandu draws the biggest public celebrations, ringed with fresh prayer flags for the new year.

Janai Purnima (August)

On the full moon of Shrawan, Hindu men renew the janai, the sacred thread worn across the chest, and households across the country eat kwati, a soup of nine sprouted beans. The festival's spectacular side is the pilgrimage: thousands climb to the sacred lakes of Gosaikunda (4,380 m) in the Langtang region to bathe, accompanied by jhankri (traditional shamans) drumming in full regalia.

Gai Jatra (August/September)

Gai Jatra, the festival of cows, fills the streets of Bhaktapur and Kathmandu with processions honouring family members who died in the past year, since the cow is believed to guide souls onward. Newari tradition mixes the mourning with licensed comedy: satire, cross-dressing, and political mockery are customary on this one day, making it the funniest and most bittersweet event on the valley calendar.

Mani Rimdu (October/November)

Mani Rimdu is the Sherpa community's great monastic festival, held at Tengboche Monastery in the Everest region over three public days of masked cham dances, blessings, and fire rituals. Its timing in the post-monsoon trekking peak means an Everest Base Camp itinerary can be built around it; our guide to the Mani Rimdu festival covers the schedule and the story behind the dances.

Chhath (October/November)

Chhath, the great sun-worship festival of the Terai and the Maithili-speaking south, follows six days after Tihar. Devotees fast and stand in rivers and ponds to offer thekua sweets and fruit to the setting and rising sun, and the ghats of Janakpur, lit with thousands of lamps at dawn, host the most atmospheric celebrations in Nepal.

Tips for Experiencing Festivals as a Visitor

• Check the dates for your year: most festivals follow the lunar Bikram Sambat calendar and move by weeks between years; any online Nepali calendar lists them.
• Book transport early around Dashain and Tihar: buses and domestic flights sell out as the country travels home, and many shops and offices close for days.
• Dress modestly at temples and ask before photographing rituals or sadhus; at Pashupatinath, the sadhus who pose expect a small tip.
• Know the access rules: Pashupatinath's main courtyard is open to Hindus only, but the terraces across the Bagmati River give visitors a full view, especially during Shivaratri and Teej.
• Join in where invited: Holi, Ropain, and Tihar's Deusi-Bhailo singing welcome participants; festivals here are lived, not staged.

Festival dates shift with the lunar calendar, so check the Nepali calendar for your travel year before booking. Want to time a trek or tour around one of them? Talk to our team, or browse our fixed departures for itineraries that line up with Dashain, Tihar, and the spring festival season.