The year ahead
315 festivals, holy days, harvests and seasonal customs, with this year's dates. Dates are worked out afresh every day; those marked "about" follow the moon or local calendars and can shift by a day.
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October 2026
11 Oct 2026White SundayLotu a Tamaiti: children in white lead the church service, recite verses and are given the first of the feast.
18 Oct 2026Double Ninth FestivalClimbing a hill, drinking chrysanthemum tea and honouring the elderly on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
29 Oct 2026Karva ChauthA day of fasting kept by married women for their husbands, ended at moonrise through a sieve.
18 Oct 2026Double Ninth FestivalClimbing a hill, drinking chrysanthemum tea and honouring the elderly on the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.
29 Oct 2026Karva ChauthA day of fasting kept by married women for their husbands, ended at moonrise through a sieve.November 2026
January 2027
6 Jan 2027La BefanaItaly's good witch flies in on a broomstick on Epiphany eve and fills stockings with sweets, or coal for the naughty.
11 Jan 2027Coming of Age DayTwenty-year-olds in furisode and suits attend city ceremonies on the second Monday of January.
30 Jan 2027Little New YearThe kitchen god's farewell: sticky sweets are offered so he will say sweet things to heaven.
March 2027
3 Mar 2027HinamatsuriThe Doll Festival for girls: tiered displays of imperial court dolls, peach blossom and sweet hishimochi.
7 Mar 2027Mothering SundayThe fourth Sunday of Lent in Britain: posies and cards for mothers, and simnel cake.
29 Mar 2027Dyngus DayEaster Monday in Poland: the playful water-throwing of Śmigus-dyngus, with pussy-willow switches and wet streets.
May 2027
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Ashura: Abbas Shariati, CC BY 4.0, source
- Raksha Bandhan: Suyash.dwivedi, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Hinamatsuri: Lalupa, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mother's Day: Dave Parker, CC BY 2.0, source
- Qingming Festival: Jacklee ., CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Double Ninth Festival: Sgerbic, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Famadihana: Saveoursmile (Hery Zo Rakotondramanana), CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Karva Chauth: Iamwiki001, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Shichi-Go-San: Bergmann at Japanese Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0, source
- Bhai Dooj: SandeshLamsalNepal, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Coming of Age Day: moguphotos, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Gargee'an: MilanBye, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Śmigus-Dyngus: Nationwide Specialty Co., Arlington, Texas -- In Buffalo, N.Y., Stanle, CC BY 3.0, source
- Christmas Eve: Carl Larsson, Public domain, source
- Kodomo No Hi: Post of USSR, Public domain, source
- La Befana: El Ágora, Public domain, source