Plan your trip · Mumbai
What's on in Mumbai
Mumbai celebrates almost every faith's festivals, and many of them happen on the street. Most follow lunar calendars, so check the year's dates before you book.
Nothing dated is confirmed for Mumbai right now, so here is the year instead — the fixtures that come round annually, and what each one means for a visit.
The year in Mumbai
Mumbai's calendar works around the monsoon — the big outdoor events sit either side of it, and the wettest weeks are the quietest ones for anything held in the open. Broadly, Oct – Feb is when visiting is most comfortable here, and that is when the calendar is busiest — which also means accommodation is most expensive and books furthest ahead.
Most of these follow lunar calendars and move by weeks from year to year, so treat the windows below as the season rather than the date, and confirm the year’s dates before you book around one.
Signature to Mumbai
Ganesh Chaturthi
🗓️ August–SeptemberTen days of pandals across the city, from Lalbaug's giant idols to lane shrines, ending in immersions at Girgaon Chowpatty and the other beaches.
Planning: The famous pandals mean queues of many hours, and the final day is gridlock; the smaller lane pandals are better for actually seeing anything.
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival
🗓️ FebruaryNine days of street art, installations and performance through the Fort district, mostly free.
Planning: The best weather of the Mumbai year, and the one time the area is properly walkable.
Nationwide
Diwali
🗓️ October–NovemberThe biggest holiday of the year — lamps, sweets, fireworks and a week of visiting family. Cities are lit up and markets stay open late.
Holi
🗓️ MarchColoured powder and water, thrown at anyone within reach, mostly through the morning.
Navratri and Dussehra
🗓️ September–OctoberNine nights of fasting, music and dance, ending with Dussehra. What it looks like changes completely by region — garba in Gujarat, pandals in Bengal, processions in the south.
Eid al-Fitr
🗓️ shifts ~11 days earlier each yearThe end of Ramadan. The old quarters of Delhi, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Bhopal are at their best in the evenings through the preceding month, when food streets run past midnight.
Makar Sankranti and Pongal
🗓️ mid-JanuaryThe harvest turn, marked with kites in the west and north and four days of Pongal in Tamil Nadu.
Ganesh Chaturthi (late August or September)
Ten days when the whole city turns towards Ganesha. Neighbourhood groups build pandals, and the most famous, such as Lalbaugcha Raja in Lalbaug, draw queues that last many hours. Homes and pandals immerse their idols after one and a half, five, seven or ten days. The biggest day is Anant Chaturdashi, when processions head to Girgaon Chowpatty and other beaches. Roads close and trains fill, so stay near your hotel or join a crowd on foot. The dates follow the lunar calendar and change every year, so check them before you book.
Kala Ghoda Arts Festival (late January to early February)
Nine days of art, music, talks, walks and food stalls across the Fort district. Most events are free. The 2026 edition ran from 31 January to 8 February. Weekday mornings are quieter than the weekends.
Gudi Padwa (March or April)
The Marathi New Year. Houses hang a gudi, a pole topped with a silk cloth and an upturned pot, and Girgaon and Dadar hold morning processions with women in nauvari sarees, bikes and dhol-tasha drummers.
Dahi Handi (August)
On the day after Janmashtami, teams of young men, called govindas, build human pyramids to break a pot of curd hung high above the street. Dadar and Thane are known for the biggest ones.
Navratri and Dussehra (September or October)
Garba and dandiya nights are held across the western suburbs, and the Mahalakshmi temple is crowded for the whole nine days.
Bandra Fair (September)
A week-long fair around Mount Mary Basilica in Bandra, starting on the Sunday after 8 September. Pilgrims of every faith come, with stalls selling wax offerings and sweets. In 2026 it ran from 13 to 20 September.
Ramzan, Diwali and Christmas
During Ramzan, the food stalls on Mohammed Ali Road run late every night. Diwali brings lamps, fireworks and busy markets in October or November. At Christmas, the Catholic neighbourhoods of Bandra decorate their lanes.
Planning tips
On big festival days, allow twice the usual travel time and keep plans flexible. Hotels near Girgaon Chowpatty and Lalbaug fill early for Ganesh Chaturthi.
Questions
Mumbai — FAQ
When is Ganesh Chaturthi in Mumbai?
It falls in late August or September, on the fourth day of the Hindu month of Bhadrapada, and runs for about ten days. The dates move each year with the lunar calendar, so check them before you book.
Is the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival free?
Most of it is. The street installations, stalls and many talks and performances are free, while a few workshops and ticketed shows need registration.
Where is the best place to watch the Ganesh immersions?
Girgaon Chowpatty, at the north end of Marine Drive, sees the largest processions on Anant Chaturdashi. Arrive early, keep your valuables close and expect to stay on foot for hours.