Tihar 2026 in KathmanduLaxmi Puja Sunday 8 November, Bhai Tika Wednesday 11 — dates and what's on

Laxmi Puja night, Sunday 8 November, is the one to be out for. Bhaktapur Durbar Square and its back lanes, Patan Durbar Square and Mangal Bazaar, and the courtyards of Kathmandu's old town — Asan, Indra Chowk, Itum Bahal — are lined with diyo lamps, candles and strings of lights from dusk, with rangoli mandaps at every threshold and shopkeepers doing their puja in the doorway. New Road, Durbar Marg and the ring-road malls put up their commercial displays for the week; the old towns do it by hand and it shows.

Deusi-Bhailo is the sound of it: groups of singers going house to house and shop to shop after dark on Laxmi Puja (Bhailo, traditionally the girls) and Mha Puja night (Deusi, the boys), singing the call-and-response for money and sel roti. Anyone is welcome to follow a troupe; a NPR 100 note into the plate is the right response when one stops at your door. Organised Deusi programmes — clubs, schools, community groups and venues staging it with a band — are listed on this page as they are announced.

Bhailo comes first. On Laxmi Puja night, Sunday 8 November, groups — traditionally girls and women — go from house to house and shop to shop singing "Bhailo re, bhailo", wishing the household Laxmi's blessing for the year. Deusi follows on the nights after, through Govardhan / Mha Puja night on Tuesday 10 November: the boys' and men's troupes, with a madal and a lead singer calling "Deusi re" and the group answering, the verses telling the story of the festival and, by the end of the night, whatever the singer can rhyme about the people listening.

Every stop ends the same way. The household brings out a plate — rice, sel roti, fruit, sweets and money — the troupe gives its blessing for the house, and moves on to the next door. Nobody needs an invitation to follow a troupe through their own neighbourhood, and most of them are collecting for something: a youth club, a school, a flood or earthquake fund, a local temple. Answer the door, or leave the gate open.

Organised Deusi-Bhailo has grown alongside the street version: clubs, colleges, community groups, restaurants and venues stage it with a band, a sound system and sometimes a competition, from the weekend before Laxmi Puja to Mha Puja night. Those are the ones you can plan for — every public Deusi-Bhailo programme an organiser confirms is listed on this page with its date, venue and price, and the Kata Jaam? app sends a notification when a new one is added.

Laxmi Puja is a home festival first: the puja happens at dusk with the family, so evening plans start after it — usually from 8 PM. The best of the night is outdoors and free: walk the old towns while the lamps are lit, then follow the Bhailo singers. Bhaktapur is a short ride from the city and at its best from dusk to about 10 PM; Patan's Mangal Bazaar and Kathmandu's Asan and Indra Chowk are the closer options.

Thamel and Jhamsikhel stay open through Tihar, and the bars and restaurants that run Tihar- or Diwali-themed nights, Deusi evenings and DJ sets put them on Laxmi Puja and the Saturday before. The Tihar weekend is Friday 6 to Sunday 8 November; Bhai Tika on Wednesday 11 is a family day, and the regular weekend calendar returns from Friday 13 November.

Tuesday 10 November is also Nhu Dan, the first day of Nepal Sambat 1147: Kathmandu's Newar community holds Mha Puja at home in the evening and, during the day, the new-year rally rides through the old town from Basantapur with banners and bands. Yomari and the samay baji feast come out; Patan, Kirtipur and Bhaktapur are the places to be.

Bhai Tika on Wednesday 11 closes the festival: a family morning of tika, oil, garlands and gifts, and a quiet city afterwards. Those without a brother or sister traditionally go to Rani Pokhari, whose Bal Gopal temple opens to the public only on this day. The nightlife calendar restarts from the weekend of 14–15 November.

Laxmi Puja (8 November) and Bhai Tika (11 November) are public holidays; Mha Puja / Nepal Sambat is a holiday in the valley for the Newar community and most offices treat 10 November as one too. Shops in the old towns stay open late and busy through the week — it is Kathmandu's biggest shopping season after Dashain — while the bars and restaurants of Thamel and Jhamsikhel run Tihar-special nights rather than closing. Fireworks are officially restricted; expect them anyway on Laxmi Puja night, and keep dogs indoors that evening.

Tihar is Nepal's festival of lights — five days honouring crows, dogs, cows, the goddess Laxmi, and finally brothers on Bhai Tika. Homes glow with oil lamps and marigold garlands, doorways get rangoli mandaps, and Deusi-Bhailo singing troupes go house to house after dark.

Tihar peaks in November, and in 2026 the main day falls on Wednesday, 11 November 2026. Because it moves with the calendar each year, the surrounding events — dinners, concerts, cultural nights and parties — tend to appear in the weeks just before. If the grid above is quiet, it simply means we're out of season: bookmark this page and check back as November nears.