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FESTIVAL CALENDAR · HIMACHAL PRADESH · 040

Festivals in Himachal Pradesh.

40 festivals across Himachal Pradesh — organised by month.

January

Kullu Winter Carnival

Kullu

A vibrant winter festival with folk music, traditional Nati dance, handicraft exhibitions, and adventure sports in the snow-clad valley.

Kufri Winter Sports Festival

Kufri

Skiing, tobogganing, and ice-skating competitions at Kufri near Shimla, with yak rides and snow sculpture contests.

February

Losar (Tibetan New Year / Halda)

Lahaul Valley

Buddhist new year celebration in Lahaul known locally as 'Halda', marking the end of harvest season. Monasteries perform ritual 'Cham dances' (masked devil dances) in colorful costumes depicting triumph of good over evil. Includes traditional Tibetan Buddhist ceremonies.

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.

Losar (Tibetan New Year)

McLeod Ganj

Three-day Tibetan New Year celebration marking the Fire Horse Year (2026). Families prepare khapse (traditional Tibetan sweets), monasteries conduct prayers, and thousands gather at Tsuglagkhang temple. Dalai Lama participates in celebrations.

Fagli Festival

Spiti Valley

Ancient demon-chasing festival. Masked dancers, bonfires, local chang beer. Zero tourists.

March

Fagli Festival

Kinnaur

Traditional tribal festival in Yangpa village and Tirthan Valley marking the end of winter and victory of good over evil. Men in traditional masks dance in circles while locals gather. Arrow shooting at Ravana portraits occurs in some villages during Basant Panchami.

Mandi Nalwari Cattle Fair

Mandi

Himachal's biggest cattle trading fair held alongside the Shivaratri festivities, with thousands of livestock and agricultural implements traded.

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.

Sauji Fair

Palampur

A major regional fair at the Bundla Devi Temple with folk dances, local handicraft stalls, and Gaddi tribal celebrations.

April

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.

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.

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

Summer Festival

Shimla

Celebrity performances, flower shows on the Ridge. Hot air balloons. Evening cultural shows.

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.

June

Prashar Mela (Parashar Fair)

Prashar Lake

Annual fair at the 13th-century Parashar Rishi Temple on the shores of Prashar Lake (2,730m) in Mandi district. Devta processions where idols of regional deities are carried in traditional sedans by foot. Includes folk music and local cuisine.

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

Dalai Lama's Birthday

McLeod Ganj

Celebration of His Holiness the Dalai Lama's birthday, featuring prayers and cultural events at Tsuglagkhang temple and surrounding areas. Monastics from all traditions, dignitaries, and Buddhist practitioners gather for ceremonies.

Shrikhand Mahadev Yatra

Shrikhand Mahadev

Sacred pilgrimage to Shrikhand Mahadev peak (18,570m) featuring a naturally formed 75-foot Shivling. One of the most challenging treks in India, organized by Kullu District Administration during the Shravan month (auspicious for Shiva worship). Base camps with facilities at five locations.

Kinner Kailash Parikrama

Kinner Kailash

60 km sacred pilgrimage circuit around Kinner Kailash peak in Kinnaur, with a naturally formed 79-foot Shivling at 4,400m. Trek starts from Charang village and ends at Chitkul in Baspa Valley. Believed to grant spiritual liberation through karmic purification.

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.

Tsheshu Chaam Festival

Kaza

Monks at Key Monastery (near Kaza) perform chaam — sacred masked dances — over 2 days. The masks represent Guru Padmasambhava's eight manifestations. Visitors welcome; silence during performances.

August

Ladarcha Fair

Kaza

Historic trade fair that once drew traders from Tibet, Ladakh and Kinnaur. Now a 3-day cultural festival at Kaza with archery, chaam mask dances, and a wool-barter market.

Manimahesh Yatra

Manimahesh Kailash

Sacred pilgrimage to Manimahesh Lake (4,080m) at the foot of Mount Kailash in Bharmour region, coinciding with Krishna Janmashtami. Thousands of devotees trek to the holy lake. Bharmour hosts a fair with local customs and rituals.

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.

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.

September

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.

Phulaich (Festival of Flowers)

Sangla Valley

Festival celebrating wildflower blooms in upper Kinnaur, featuring processions of local deities, traditional folk dances, and reenactments of ancient war scenes in traditional attire. Three-day 'Ukhyang' celebration at Sangla Valley organized by Kinnaur administration.

Phulech Festival

Kalpa

Kinnauri flower festival where locals collect alpine wildflowers from high meadows and decorate homes, temples, and deity palanquins to welcome autumn.

October

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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