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
On now, about 20 Sept to 19 Oct 2026RtveliThe Georgian grape harvest in Kakheti: whole families pick, press and ferment the wine in buried qvevri jars.
12 Oct 2026Thanksgiving in CanadaThe second Monday of October: a harvest dinner at the peak of autumn colour.
about 15 Oct to 28 Nov 2026Olive Harvest in the LevantFamilies gather under ancient trees in October and November to pick, press and share the year's oil.
12 Oct 2026Thanksgiving in CanadaThe second Monday of October: a harvest dinner at the peak of autumn colour.
about 15 Oct to 28 Nov 2026Olive Harvest in the LevantFamilies gather under ancient trees in October and November to pick, press and share the year's oil.November 2026
19 Nov 2026Beaujolais Nouveau DayThe third Thursday of November: the year's first Gamay is released at midnight and drunk young, in France and across the world.
26 Nov 2026Thanksgiving in the United StatesThe fourth Thursday of November: a turkey dinner with family, football, the Macy's parade and a moment of thanks.January 2027
13 Jan 2027LohriA winter bonfire in Punjab with songs, bhangra, popcorn, peanuts and sweets thrown into the flames.
14 to 17 Jan 2027PongalThe Tamil harvest festival: rice boiled until it spills over, sugarcane, decorated cattle and kolam at every door.
14 Jan 2027Makar SankrantiThe sun enters Capricorn: kites in Gujarat, sesame sweets, holy dips in rivers and a harvest meal.March 2027
about 1 Mar to 14 Apr 2027Sugaring OffThe maple sap run in March and April: sugar shacks, taffy on snow and a long table of maple-glazed food.
6 Mar 2027Fiesta Nacional de la VendimiaMendoza's grape harvest festival: an enormous open-air show, a parade of floats and the crowning of the Vendimia Queen.
6 Mar 2027Fiesta Nacional de la VendimiaMendoza's grape harvest festival: an enormous open-air show, a parade of floats and the crowning of the Vendimia Queen.June 2027
August 2027
1 Aug 2027Lughnasadh and LammasThe first-fruits of the grain harvest: hilltop climbs, bilberries and the Lammas loaf blessed in the church.
8 Aug 2027Melon DayA national holiday for the Turkmen melon, sold, judged and eaten in parks across the country.
about 15 Aug 2027Wafaa el-NilThe ancient celebration of the Nile flood: once a bride of clay was offered to the river, today there are boats, songs and feasts.
about 15 to 17 Aug 2027HomowoThe Ga festival of "hooting at hunger" in Accra, with kpokpoi, fasts of silence and a procession of chiefs.
about 15 to 17 Aug 2027New Yam FestivalThe Igbo Iri Ji: the first yams of the year are offered to the gods and ancestors before anyone eats them.September 2027
12 to 21 Sept 2027OnamKerala's harvest festival: flower carpets, snake-boat races, tiger dancers and the great sadya on a banana leaf.
15 Sept 2027Mid-Autumn FestivalThe harvest moon: families gather outside to share mooncakes, pomelos and the legend of the moon lady Chang'e.
15 to 17 Sept 2027ChuseokThe Korean harvest moon: family gathering, songpyeon rice cakes shaped by hand, and rites at ancestors' graves.
15 Sept 2027TsukimiMoon viewing in autumn: dango stacked on a stand, pampas grass in a vase and tea in the evening.
Photo credits on this page
The small pictures above come from Wikimedia Commons under free licences. Some are cropped to fit.
- Pongal: Saral Shots, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Makar Sankranti: Saloni Desai, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Onam: Jiteshgt, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Mid-Autumn Festival: Shizhao, CC BY-SA 2.5, source
- Lohri: Karen Sandhu, CC BY 2.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Jennie Augusta Brownscombe, Public domain, source
- Homowo: Agbleyjill, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Thanksgiving: Lars Plougmann, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Sukkot: Zachi Evenor, CC BY 2.0, source
- Festa Junina: Leandro Neumann Ciuffo, CC BY 2.0, source
- Tsukimi: katorisi, CC BY 3.0, source
- Fiesta Nacional de la Vendimia: Javinaselli, CC BY-SA 4.0, source
- Chuseok: by Joseph Steinberg (Baltimoron in Korea) at Flickr, CC BY-SA 2.0, source
- Lughnasadh: Mountainash333, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Shavuot: https://www.flickr.com/people/69061470@N05, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Mehregan: PersianDutchNetwork, CC BY-SA 3.0, source
- Beaujolais Nouveau: Agne27, CC BY-SA 3.0, source