Festival Calendar
Festivals in Himachal Pradesh
29 festivals across Himachal Pradesh — organized by month
January
Kufri Winter Sports Festival
Kufri
Skiing, tobogganing, and ice-skating competitions at Kufri near Shimla, with yak rides and snow sculpture contests.
Kullu Winter Carnival
Kullu
A vibrant winter festival with folk music, traditional Nati dance, handicraft exhibitions, and adventure sports in the snow-clad valley.
February
Fagli Festival
Spiti Valley
Ancient demon-chasing festival. Masked dancers, bonfires, local chang beer. Zero tourists.
Mandi Shivaratri Fair
Mandi
Over 200 village deities are carried in decorated palanquins to Mandi's Paddal Ground for a week-long International Maha Shivaratri Fair with cultural programs.
Losar (Tibetan New Year)
Dharamshala
Dalai Lama often gives public teaching. Tibetan opera, mask dances, butter sculptures.
March
Tirthan Trout Season Opening
Tirthan Valley
Official opening of the catch-and-release trout fishing season in the Tirthan River within the Great Himalayan National Park buffer zone.
Mandi Nalwari Cattle Fair
Mandi
Himachal's biggest cattle trading fair held alongside the Shivaratri festivities, with thousands of livestock and agricultural implements traded.
Sauji Fair
Palampur
A major regional fair at the Bundla Devi Temple with folk dances, local handicraft stalls, and Gaddi tribal celebrations.
April
Shringa Rishi Fair
Jibhi
Fair at the ancient Shringa Rishi Temple near Jibhi in Banjar Valley, with devta (deity) palanquin processions, Nati folk dance, and community feasting.
Kasauli Rhythm and Blues Festival
Kasauli
Annual international music festival in the colonial-era Kasauli Club featuring jazz, blues, and rock bands performing amid pine forests at 1,800m.
Tea Festival (Kangra Tea)
Palampur
Celebrates the first flush of Kangra tea with tastings at local gardens, cultural programmes, and exhibitions on tea heritage.
Barot Trout Festival
Barot Valley
Angling festival in the Uhl River valley celebrating Barot's legacy as India's first trout hatchery established in 1909, with catch-and-release competitions.
May
Chail Cricket Festival
Chail
Cricket matches and cultural events at the Chail Cricket Ground — the world's highest cricket pitch at 2,444m, built in 1893 by Maharaja Bhupinder Singh of Patiala.
Summer Festival
Shimla
Celebrity performances, flower shows on the Ridge. Hot air balloons. Evening cultural shows.
June
Ghepan Festival
Sissu
Festival honoring the deity Ghepan (Lord of Snow) in Lahaul Valley with masked dances, butter sculpture offerings, and chanting by Buddhist lamas.
Solan Shoolini Fair
Solan
Eight-day fair honoring Goddess Shoolini — after whom Solan is named — with cultural programs, handicraft markets, and wrestling matches at the Thodo Ground.
July
Chamba Minjar Fair
Chamba
Week-long royal festival where silk threads (minjar) symbolizing corn silk are offered to the Ravi River, with processions from Akhand Chandi Palace led by the deity Raghuvir.
August
Ladarcha Fair
Keylong
Historic trade fair in Keylong where merchants from Ladakh, Spiti, and Kullu once exchanged wool, salt, and dry fruits; now a cultural festival with yak dances and Lahauli music.
Malana Village Fair
Kasol
The ancient village of Malana — which claims to be the world's oldest democracy — holds its annual fair with rituals at the Jamlu Devta temple and village council assembly.
September
Phulech Festival
Kalpa
Kinnauri flower festival where locals collect alpine wildflowers from high meadows and decorate homes, temples, and deity palanquins to welcome autumn.
Chitkul Pahari Fair
Chitkul
Post-harvest celebration in India's last inhabited village on the Indo-Tibet border, with Kinnauri dances, archery, and offerings at the Mathi temple.
Nako Lake Festival
Nako
Festival at the sacred Nako Lake in Spiti with Buddhist prayer ceremonies at the 11th-century Nako Monastery, folk dances, and boating on the high-altitude lake.
October
Chamba Dussehra
Chamba
Unlike the Ramlila-based Dussehra elsewhere, Chamba celebrates with a week-long rath yatra of Raghuvir and Lakshmi Narayan deities through town streets.
Kullu Dussehra
Kullu
The internationally famous 7-day Dussehra festival where 200+ local deities are carried in processions to the Dhalpur Maidan to pay homage to Lord Raghunath.
Paragliding World Cup
Bir Billing
International pilots compete in cross-country paragliding from Billing takeoff (2,400m).
Kullu Dussehra
Manali
200+ village deities carried in palanquins. Unlike rest of India, Kullu Dussehra STARTS when everyone else's ends.
Kinnaur Dussehra (Fulaich)
Kalpa
Celebrated a month after mainstream Dussehra with grape and apple wine offerings, Kinnauri Nati dances, and bonfires in Kalpa and Reckong Peo.
Bhimakali Dussehra
Sarahan
Animal sacrifice and tantric rituals at the ancient Bhimakali Temple (800 CE) during Navaratri, with the goddess carried in a silver palanquin through Sarahan village.
November
Manikaran Guru Nanak Birthday
Manikaran
Grand celebrations at Manikaran Sahib Gurudwara where food is cooked in natural hot springs, with special kirtan and langar serving thousands of pilgrims.