The North East has a festival worth travelling for in almost every month. Some are ancient and some are new. Some are prayers and some are rock concerts.
This calendar runs through the year, month by month. For each one we say where it is, how long to stay and which trip it fits. It ends with how to choose and how to book.
How to read the dates
Some festivals have a fixed date. Nyokum is always 26 February, and Hornbill always opens on 1 December.
Many others follow a lunar or Buddhist calendar, so the date moves each year. Others are set by a committee a few weeks ahead. Where that is the case, we say "usually".
Treat those as a guide to the month, not the day. Fix your trip only once the year's dates are announced.
January
January is Assam's busiest festival month. Magh Bihu falls in mid January. It is the harvest feast, with a night of feasting in bamboo huts and a bonfire at dawn. Villages fish the wetlands together on the eve.
Early January brings the Chandubi Festival, from 1 to 5 January, and the Jeevan Kite River Festival on the Guwahati bank. Jonbeel Mela, a barter fair, follows in mid January.
Assam Tourism also lists the Charaideo Festival and the Dehing Patkai Festival in Tinsukia district. All of these are in our guide to the Brahmaputra's festival season.
High in Arunachal, Tawang Monastery holds Torgya, usually in January. It runs three days, with masked dances in the monastery courtyard. Its dates follow the Buddhist calendar, so check them each year.
Tawang in January is cold, and Sela Pass can shut after snow. Build a spare day into any winter trip to Tawang.
February and March
Me-Dam-Me-Phi falls on 31 January, at the turn of the month. It is the Ahom day of ancestor worship, and a state holiday in Assam. The public rites take place at Charaideo, the old Ahom royal burial ground.
Ali Aye Ligang is the spring sowing festival of the Mising people of Upper Assam. It falls on the first Wednesday of the Assamese month of Phagun, usually in February.
On 26 February the Nyishi of Arunachal hold Nyokum, a prayer for a good harvest. The fixed date makes it easy to plan around. Two nights near Itanagar is enough.
In Tawang, the Monpa celebrate Losar, their new year, usually in February or March. It begins on the first day of the lunar year and lasts about a week.
In late March the Apatani of Ziro hold Myoko, their spring festival. Late March is also when the Tawang roads start to open up for the season.
April
Bohag Bihu in mid April is the Assamese new year, and the best week to be in Assam. Assam Tourism lists it from 14 to 19 April.
Husori troupes go from house to house singing and drumming. The best way to see it is in a village or a home, not at a staged show.
Poi Sangken, a water festival, runs at about the same time in Upper Assam. Assam Tourism lists it for 14 to 16 April.
Bihu week is a good time for Kaziranga too, before the park closes for the monsoon. Our Assam itineraries for 5 and 7 days show how the two fit.
May and June
On 24 May, Lou Majaw plays his Bob Dylan birthday concert in Shillong, as he has since 1972. Read why Shillong is called India's rock capital.
In June, Ambubachi draws lakhs of pilgrims to Kamakhya in Guwahati. The temple closes for three days and reopens on the fourth.
Ambubachi is intense, and the whole city fills. If you want to see it, plan three nights in Guwahati and book your room months ahead.
July and August
On 5 July the Apatani of Ziro hold Dree, a prayer for a good harvest.
In Jowai, in Meghalaya's Jaintia Hills, the Pnar hold Behdienkhlam each July. In 2026 it ran from 6 to 9 July. It is a four-day festival, and the whole town turns out for it.
This is the monsoon. Roads are slow and plans need slack. These are festivals for travellers who do not mind the rain.
If you go, pair Jowai with Shillong. Read our best time to visit Meghalaya before you choose the week.
September
The Ziro Festival of Music runs over four days in late September. Stages of bamboo stand in the rice fields of an Arunachal valley.
Ziro needs an Inner Line Permit, and beds are few. If Ziro is the plan, start in spring, not in August.
October
Amur falcons arrive at Pangti in Nagaland in early October, on their way from Siberia to Africa. Read how Pangti saved the Amur falcon. The best weeks are the last of October and the first of November.
Kaziranga reopens for the season in October too. See our Kaziranga Safari guide.
October is when the dry season starts across the region. It is a good month for Meghalaya and for Tawang before the cold sets in.
November
November is the busiest month of the year. If you can travel only once, this is the month to pick.
Majuli holds Raas at the Kartik full moon, which falls on 24 November in 2026. Satras stage the life of Krishna over several nights. Majuli fits our Assam rhino, tea and river island trip.
In the Garo Hills, Wangala gives thanks to Saljong, the sun god, for the harvest. Long drums lead the dance. In 2026 the big Hundred Drums event near Tura is set for 11 to 14 November.
Near Shillong, the Khasi hold Nongkrem at Smit, usually in November. It lasts five days, with the dance on the fourth, in front of the Syiem's house.
Shillong's cherry trees flower too, and the Cherry Blossom Festival runs on 20 and 21 November 2026. Big concerts come as well. Guns N' Roses play Guwahati on 17 November 2026. See our guide to the North East's concert season.
December
The Hornbill Festival runs from 1 to 10 December near Kohima. Nagaland's tribes gather in one place for ten days. Give it three or four days, and add a night or two around Kohima.
Then comes Christmas in Shillong, with lights at Police Bazar, carols in the streets and midnight services.
Late December is peak season in Assam. Kaziranga's better lodges fill over Christmas and New Year, so book early if you want a safari that week.
How to pick a festival
Start with what you want to see. For music and a young crowd, pick Ziro or the Shillong concerts. For tribal dance and food in one place, pick Hornbill.
For faith, pick Raas on Majuli or Ambubachi at Kamakhya. For a home festival that you join rather than watch, pick Bihu in a village.
Then think about comfort. The dry months from October to April are the easy ones. The monsoon festivals ask more of you.
Last, think about crowds. Hornbill, Raas and Ambubachi pack small towns. Nyokum, Torgya and Nongkrem are calmer, and more like being a guest.
Booking around a festival
Festival weeks fill fast in small towns. Book your room as soon as your dates are fixed, and earlier for Hornbill, Raas and Ambubachi.
Arunachal and Nagaland need an Inner Line Permit for Indian visitors. Foreign nationals need a Protected Area Permit. Read our permit guide. Assam and Meghalaya need no permit.
Do not build a trip on a single day. Arrive a day early in case the date shifts or a road closes.
Ask before you photograph a ritual, a priest or a home. Some rites are private, and the hosts will tell you.
Plan your festival trip
Our festivals page has the trips we run around them. For a first visit, our North East India travel guide covers the whole region.
Tell us your dates and the festival you want. We will reply within 24 hours with a plan built around it.
