Nepal festivals 2027: a calendar for tour operators, with dates and operational impact

Festivals are one of the best reasons to visit Nepal and one of the most common causes of operational surprises. A well-timed Holi or Indra Jatra can be the highlight of a group tour. A badly timed Dashain can mean closed offices, full buses and a guide team that wants to be home with family. This calendar sets out what is known about 2027 so far, separates official dates from provisional ones, and explains what each festival means for your operations.

For the weather side of the same decision, read our guide to Nepal weather by month, and for the overall picture see our best time to visit Nepal page.

How Nepal's calendar works

Nepal uses the Bikram Sambat (BS) calendar officially alongside the Gregorian calendar. The BS year runs about 56 years and 8 months ahead, and it starts in mid-April with Nepali New Year on Baisakh 1. BS 2084 begins on 14 April 2027.

Two bodies matter for dates. The Nepal Calendar Determination Development Committee (Nepal Panchanga Nirnayak Bikas Samiti) fixes the dates of lunar festivals and auspicious times, such as the hour for Dashain tika. The government then publishes the official list of public holidays for each BS year, issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs and published in the Nepal Gazette.

This matters for 2027 because the year straddles two holiday lists:

• 1 January to 13 April 2027 is covered by the official BS 2083 list, issued in March 2026 and published in the Nepal Gazette. These dates are firm.
• 14 April to 31 December 2027 falls in BS 2084. The government had not published that list when we checked on 1 November 2026, so every date in this part of the year is provisional, taken from calculated calendars. We will update this article when the official list appears.

Provinces may also add a small number of public holidays of their own, so a date can be a holiday in one province and a working day in another.

Nepal festivals 2027 at a glance

Where calculated calendars disagree by a day, we show both dates. Nepal's calendar committee fixes the dates and the government holiday list adopts them, so do not fix a group's arrival or departure on a disputed day until the official list is out.

January to April festivals

The first quarter of 2027 is the easiest to plan, because every date is already official.

Maghe Sankranti and the Lhosars

Maghe Sankranti on 15 January marks the end of the coldest month and is a public holiday. Sonam Lhosar (7 February) and Gyalpo Lhosar (9 March) are new year festivals of Tamang and Sherpa or Tibetan Buddhist communities. Gyalpo Lhosar is a good reason to include Boudhanath in a Kathmandu programme, with prayers and gatherings around the stupa.

Maha Shivaratri

On 6 March, Pashupatinath fills with pilgrims and sadhus. It is a striking sight, but crowds around the temple are very large. For groups, visit early, keep the group small on site, and expect traffic delays in that part of Kathmandu.

Holi

Holi falls on 21 March in the hill and Himalayan districts, including Kathmandu and Pokhara, and on 22 March in the Terai. The split matters for itineraries that move between Kathmandu and the Terai, for example to Lumbini, around those dates: a group can meet Holi twice, or miss it, depending on the routing. Brief clients to wear clothes they do not mind losing and to protect cameras and phones.

Ghode Jatra

On 6 April, the Nepal Army stages the horse festival at Tundikhel in central Kathmandu. It is a holiday in the Kathmandu Valley only, which can affect permit offices and transfers inside the valley on the day.

May to August festivals

This part of the year falls in BS 2084, so treat all dates as provisional.

Nepali New Year and Bisket Jatra

Bisket Jatra in Bhaktapur is a multi-day festival that begins a few days before Nepali New Year, with chariot processions and the raising of a tall pole in the town. New Year's Day 2027 is 14 April. It is one of the most photogenic festivals in the valley, and Bhaktapur's streets are very crowded during the chariot events.

Buddha Jayanti

Buddha Jayanti, provisionally on 20 May, is celebrated at Boudhanath and Swayambhu in Kathmandu and at Lumbini, the Buddha's birthplace. It suits Buddhist heritage programmes, with the caution that late May is hot in the lowlands.

Rato Machhindranath, Tiji and Dumje

Three important festivals have no confirmed 2027 date yet:

• Rato Machhindranath in Patan is a chariot festival that runs for about a month in spring and ends with Bhoto Jatra at Jawalakhel. Its dates follow the lunar calendar and were not yet announced when we checked.
• Tiji in Lo Manthang, Upper Mustang, is a three-day monastic festival held in late spring. Some operators list early June 2027, but we found no official confirmation, so do not sell a fixed-date Tiji departure until the monastery's dates are confirmed.
• Dumje is a Sherpa festival held in the Khumbu, including Namche, Thame and Tengboche, in early summer. Dates vary by village.

Gai Jatra and Krishna Janmashtami

Gai Jatra, provisionally on 18 August, is a Kathmandu Valley festival of processions in memory of family members who died during the year, held the day after Janai Purnima. Krishna Janmashtami, provisionally on 25 August, centres on the Krishna Mandir in Patan Durbar Square. Both fall in the monsoon, so they suit cultural tours rather than trekking groups.

September to December festivals

The autumn trekking season and the biggest festivals overlap, which is why this section matters most for operators.

Teej, Indra Jatra and Constitution Day

Teej, provisionally on 3 September, is a women's festival with large gatherings at Pashupatinath. Indra Jatra brings the living goddess Kumari out in a chariot procession around Kathmandu Durbar Square; calculated calendars give 12 or 14 September 2027. During the chariot processions, Kathmandu Traffic Police close streets around Hanuman Dhoka and the old city to vehicles, so plan transfers to avoid the area in the afternoon. Constitution Day falls on Asoj 3 in the Nepali calendar, which is 19 or 20 September in 2027 depending on the source.

Dashain

Dashain is Nepal's longest and most important festival. In 2027 the provisional dates are Ghatasthapana on 30 September, Fulpati on 6 October, Maha Ashtami on 7 October and Vijaya Dashami, the main tika day, on 9 or 10 October. The exact tika time is set by the calendar committee each year: in 2026 it was 10:26 am on 21 October, as the Himalayan Times reported.

Tihar and Chhath

Tihar, the festival of lights, follows about two and a half weeks after the Dashain tika day. The provisional 2027 dates are Kag Tihar on 27 October, Kukur Tihar on 28 October, Laxmi Puja on 29 October, Govardhan and Mha Puja on 30 October, and Bhai Tika on 31 October. Our Tihar guide for tour operators covers what clients see on each day. Chhath, provisionally on 4 November, is celebrated mainly in the Terai and on Kathmandu's riverbanks.

Mani Rimdu and Tamu Lhosar

Mani Rimdu at Tengboche Monastery in the Everest region usually falls in October or November and draws trekkers to the monastery courtyard for masked dances. The 2027 date had not been announced when we checked. Tamu Lhosar, the Gurung new year, is provisionally on 30 December and is celebrated especially in Pokhara.

Operational impact: closures and demand

The festivals that change operations most are Dashain and Tihar. The official BS 2083 list gives a guide to the scale of closures:

Before Dashain, large numbers of people leave the Kathmandu Valley for their home districts. In 2026, Traffic Police recorded 56,809 people leaving the valley in a single 24-hour period, with the largest share, 27,649, leaving through Nagdhunga on the main road west, according to Traffic Police figures reported by the Himalayan Times. In practice this means:

• Roads: expect slow traffic out of Kathmandu on the main highways in the days before the main Dashain holidays, and again on the return.
• Buses and domestic flights: tourist buses and flights to Pokhara and the Terai fill early. Book seats as soon as dates are confirmed.
• Staff: guides, drivers and hotel staff want to be home for tika day. A good operator plans crews well ahead, so book festival-week departures early.
• Shops and restaurants: many close for a few days around tika day, especially outside tourist areas.

Holi is another date to plan around: on Holi morning, coloured powder and water are thrown in the streets, and some shops and restaurants open late. Keep transfers and sightseeing to the afternoon on that day.

Hotels and domestic travel

The long Dashain and Tihar holidays are also the main holiday period for Nepali families, and many travel within the country. Popular hotels in Pokhara, Chitwan and other domestic destinations can fill with local guests in the same weeks that international trekkers arrive for the autumn season. For festival-week groups, confirm hotel contracts early and ask for written confirmation of room types, not just a booking reference.

Festivals and the trekking season

In 2027 Dashain falls in the first ten days of October and Tihar at the end of the month, so both sit inside the main autumn trekking window. Treks themselves are rarely affected once a group is on the trail, because lodges stay open. The pressure points are the transfers at either end: the drive or flight out of Kathmandu, and the return in time for an international flight. If you are choosing between regions for an October group, our comparison of Everest and Annapurna by season shows which routes depend most on flights and roads.

Festivals worth building a trip around

Some festivals are worth selling as the reason for the trip, not just as a bonus:

• Bisket Jatra (April): chariot processions in Bhaktapur, one of the best-preserved towns in the valley.
• Holi (March): easy to add to any Kathmandu or Pokhara programme, and popular with younger groups.
• Indra Jatra (September): the Kumari procession in Kathmandu Durbar Square, combined with a late-monsoon cultural tour.
• Tihar (late October): oil lamps and lights on homes and temples, during the peak trekking season.
• Tiji and Mani Rimdu: monastery festivals that pair naturally with an Upper Mustang or Everest region trek, once the dates are confirmed.

For travel agents: how to package it

• What to include: a clear note in the client dossier on which festival days fall inside the trip, and what that means for opening hours and traffic.
• Buffers: avoid scheduling an international departure on Vijaya Dashami or the days either side, and add a spare day to any road-heavy itinerary in the Dashain exodus window.
• Who it suits: photography groups, cultural tours and school or university groups that want a living-culture experience; our group tours planning guide covers the group logistics.
• Upsells: a guided festival evening in Bhaktapur or Patan, a Boudhanath visit on Gyalpo Lhosar, or a Tengboche night timed for Mani Rimdu. Our tours page shows the cultural programmes festival days can be built into.
• Contract terms: because post-April dates are provisional, write festival-dependent itineraries with a clause that allows a one-day shift once the official list is published.

Use our planning timeline for agents to see when to lock flights, hotels and crews for festival departures. Expert DMC Nepal is licensed by the Government of Nepal for travel, tour, trekking and mountaineering, and we plan festival-season programmes with our own guides, transport and hotel contracts. To build a festival departure with us, start a partnership here.