This is our short list of the festivals in Northeast India that are worth planning a whole trip around. Some are huge and famous. Some are small, and you join them rather than watch.
For each one, we say what it is, when it falls and what to know before you go. The month-by-month view of every festival is in our full calendar.
1. Hornbill Festival, Nagaland
The Hornbill Festival runs from 1 to 10 December every year at Kisama, about 12 km from Kohima. The major Naga tribes come together in one place, with dance, music, food and crafts.
Give it three to four days. Fly into Dimapur, 74 km from Kohima. Indian visitors need a Nagaland Inner Line Permit, applied for online.
Around the festival, the Kohima War Cemetery is worth an hour. Our Hornbill guide has the full plan, and our Dzukou Valley post covers the trek near Kohima if you have an extra day.
2. Bohag Bihu, Assam
Bohag Bihu, in mid April, is the Assamese new year. Assam Tourism lists it from 14 to 19 April.
Husori troupes go from house to house singing and drumming, and there is dancing in the open grounds. It is a home festival, not a staged one. The best way to see it is with people who live there.
April is still inside the Kaziranga season, which runs from November to April. A Bihu week pairs well with Kaziranga and a night in Guwahati.
3. Ziro Festival of Music, Arunachal
The Ziro Festival of Music runs for four days in late September, in a paddy field in the Ziro valley. In 2026 it ran from 24 to 27 September.
It suits a younger crowd, and it is a good excuse to see Ziro and the Apatani villages around it. Indian visitors need an Arunachal Inner Line Permit.
The nearest airports are Hollongi and Lilabari, each about 100 km away. Our Ziro Valley stay can be built around the festival dates.
4. Raas on Majuli, Assam
Raas follows the Kartik full moon, which falls on 24 November in 2026. Majuli, the river island, is the place to see it. Raas began at a satra there more than 300 years ago, and seats for the performances sell out early.
It is one of the reasons November is the busiest month in the region. Read more in the Brahmaputra's festival season.
5. Magh Bihu, Assam
Magh Bihu, in mid January, is the harvest feast. On the eve, families build bamboo huts and feast through the night. At dawn they light a bonfire.
On the eve, villages also fish the wetlands together. It is a festival of food above all, and our Assamese food guide explains the pitha and laru you will be offered.
Early January also brings the Chandubi Festival, from 1 to 5 January, at Chandubi Lake near Guwahati.
6. Ambubachi Mela, Guwahati
Ambubachi is held over four days each June at Kamakhya Temple. The temple closes for three days and reopens on the fourth.
Several lakh pilgrims and sadhus come to Guwahati for it, and the city fills completely. It is extraordinary to see, but plan your stay well ahead, and expect crowds and queues.
If you want to visit Kamakhya itself in calm, choose another week. Our Kamakhya VIP darshan works best outside the mela.
7. Nyokum Yullo, Arunachal
Nyokum Yullo is the main festival of the Nyishi people, held on 26 February every year. It is a prayer for a good harvest, with priests, ritual altars and dancing.
It is held near Itanagar, and Indian visitors need an Arunachal Inner Line Permit.
8. Torgya and Losar, Tawang
Torgya is held only at Tawang Monastery, usually in January. It is three days of masked dances.
Losar, the Tibetan new year, falls in February or March and runs for a week. Both dates follow the Buddhist calendar, so they move each year.
Winter in Tawang is cold, and snow can slow the road. Build a spare day into the trip. Our Arunachal travel guide explains the drive.
9. Wangala, Behdienkhlam and Nongkrem, Meghalaya
Wangala is the harvest festival of the Garo people, with drums and dancing at Tura. In 2026 it ran from 11 to 14 November.
Behdienkhlam is held each July in Jowai, in the Jaintia Hills. The whole town turns out for four days. In 2026 it ran from 6 to 9 July, in the middle of the monsoon.
Nongkrem, near Shillong, is a five-day festival, usually in November, with a dance on the fourth day.
10. Shillong in November and December
The Shillong Cherry Blossom Festival ran on 20 and 21 November in 2026, at the New Shillong Highland Grounds, about 30 minutes from the city. Shillong is about 3 hours by road from Guwahati airport.
In December, Shillong celebrates Christmas like nowhere else in the region, with lights and carols. Winter Tales ran from 17 to 19 December in 2026, at Ward's Lake. The week from Christmas to New Year is the busiest of the year, and nights drop to around 7°C, so pack warm.
And for music fans, the concert season brings big gigs to Guwahati and Shillong.
A bonus: the Amur falcons
Not a festival, but worth a trip. Every October, vast flocks of Amur falcons roost over the Doyang reservoir in Nagaland. Pangti is the village that now guards them.
The list by month
January: Magh Bihu and the Chandubi Festival in Assam, and Torgya at Tawang.
February: Nyokum Yullo on the 26th, and Losar in Tawang in February or March.
April: Bohag Bihu across Assam.
June: Ambubachi at Kamakhya.
July: Behdienkhlam in Jowai.
September: the Ziro Festival of Music.
October: the Amur falcons at Pangti.
November: Raas on Majuli, Wangala in Tura, Nongkrem near Shillong and the Cherry Blossom Festival.
December: Hornbill in Nagaland, and Christmas in Shillong.
What changes when you travel for a festival
Rooms go first. In small towns like Kohima, Majuli or Ziro, a festival week can fill every room. Book the stay before anything else.
Dates can move. Festivals on a lunar or Buddhist calendar shift each year, and some are fixed by a committee only weeks ahead. Keep a day of slack at each end.
Permits take time. For Nagaland and Arunachal, apply for the Inner Line Permit as soon as your dates are firm.
Roads get busy. Plan shorter driving days around the festival itself, and arrive the day before the main event.
How to choose
For music and a young crowd, pick Ziro or Shillong. For tribal dance and food in one place, pick Hornbill.
For faith, pick Raas on Majuli or Ambubachi at Kamakhya. For a festival 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.
With children or older parents, choose a festival in a town you can reach easily, like Bihu near Guwahati or the November festivals around Shillong. Hornbill, Raas and Torgya mean longer journeys, bigger crowds or colder nights, so they suit a group that is ready for that.
Plan your festival trip
Festival weeks fill fast in small towns, so book as soon as your dates are fixed. For Nagaland and Arunachal, sort out the permit early: see our permits guide.
For every festival month by month, see the North East festival calendar. To build a trip around one, tell us the festival on Plan My Trip and we will plan the days around it.
