Hindu festival of lights, new moon of Kartik (OctโNov)
How many days until Diwali?
There are 65 days until Diwali 2026 (Sunday, November 8, 2026).
Diwali 2026 falls on
- Days
- 65
- Weeks
- 9 weeks and 2 days
- Months
- 2 months and 4 days
- Hours
- 1,560 hours
- Sleeps
- 65 sleeps
- Working days
- 45 working days (MonโFri)
Counting down to midnight local time on the date.
Is it Diwali today? No. Diwali 2026 is 65 days away, on Sunday, November 8, 2026. This page reads your device's date and rolls over automatically at midnight.
Upcoming dates
| Year | Date | Weekday | Days away |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | Sunday | 65 | |
| 2027 | Friday | 420 |
Main day (Lakshmi Puja) from the Hindu lunisolar calendar: Sunday November 8, 2026 and Friday October 29, 2027. Regional calendars in South India and Gujarat can differ by a day; dates for later years are added once panchang almanacs publish them.
About Diwali
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, falls on the amavasya, the new-moon day, of the lunar month of Kartik, which places it between mid-October and mid-November on the Western calendar. Because the Hindu calendar is lunisolar, the date slides about eleven days earlier each year until a leap month pushes it back, which is why 2026 Diwali is Sunday November 8 and 2027 Diwali jumps to Friday October 29. The dates here follow the panchang almanacs used for the Government of India's gazetted holiday list. Diwali is really a five-day festival: Dhanteras two days before, Naraka Chaturdashi the day before, Lakshmi Puja on the main day, Govardhan Puja the day after and Bhai Dooj two days after.
It is a public holiday in India, Nepal (as Tihar), Fiji, Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago. In the United States there is no federal holiday, but New York City public schools have closed for Diwali since 2024 and Pennsylvania recognises it as a state holiday without a day off. For anyone with family in India the practical deadlines come early: flights from the US and UK peak in the two weeks before, Indian Railways opens bookings 60 days ahead and popular trains fill within hours, and sweet and gift deliveries within India should be ordered at least a week out. Amazon and Flipkart run their biggest sales of the year in the four weeks leading up to it.
On the evening itself households light rows of clay lamps, draw rangoli at the door and, in many families, open new account books, which is why Diwali also marks the start of the Hindu financial year for traders in Gujarat. Fireworks are the noisy part: Delhi and several other Indian cities now restrict them to a two-hour evening window and to certified low-emission 'green' crackers, and air quality in northern India is usually at its worst the following morning. Outside India, the largest public celebrations are in Leicester, Singapore's Little India and the Diwali festival in New Jersey and Queens.
Frequently asked questions
- Why does Diwali change dates every year?
- It is tied to the new moon of the lunar month Kartik, so it moves against the solar calendar, landing between mid-October and mid-November.
- Is Diwali a holiday in the US?
- Not federally. New York City public schools close for it, and some employers offer it as a floating holiday.
- How many days does Diwali last?
- Five, from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj. The countdown targets the third day, Lakshmi Puja, which is the public holiday.
- When is Diwali 2027?
- Friday, October 29, 2027.
- What day of the week is Diwali 2026?
- Diwali 2026 falls on a Sunday (Sunday, November 8, 2026). It is in 2027 a Friday. The table above lists each year to 2027.
Content last reviewed: 2026-09-03