Two kinds of date shape a trip to Dehradun. The first is the holiday list. When a festival falls next to a weekend, cars from Delhi and the plains fill the roads into the valley and up the hills. The second is the city’s own calendar: the IMA parades, the Jhanda Mela at Darbar Sahib, and Garhwal’s festivals such as Harela and Igas, which most travel calendars leave out.
On this page, announced means an official list or notice gives the date. Expected means the date follows a fixed rule or a past pattern, but nobody official has confirmed it for 2027. We checked everything on 1 November 2026 and will update the page as dates are confirmed.
What is confirmed for 2027
- Central holiday list
- DoPT issued the 2027 list on 16 July 2026: 17 gazetted holidays for central offices in Delhi, plus 32 restricted holidays. Holi is Tue 23 Mar, Good Friday Fri 26 Mar and Diwali Fri 29 Oct 2027.DoPT O.M. 12/2/2023-JCA, checked 1 Nov 2026
- Moon-dependent dates
- Id-ul-Fitr (10 Mar), Id-ul-Zuha (17 May), Muharram (16 Jun) and Id-e-Milad (15 Aug) can move with moon sighting, sometimes at short notice, announced through PIB, TV, radio and newspapers.DoPT O.M., para 5, checked 1 Nov 2026
- Dehradun central offices
- The Dehradun coordination committee’s list (23 Sep 2026) follows the DoPT gazetted list and adds “Jhanda Aarohan” on Sat 27 Mar 2027 as a restricted holiday.CGEWCC Dehradun letter, via StaffNews, checked 1 Nov 2026
- Uttarakhand state holidays
- The 2027 state list is not out yet (as of 1 Nov 2026). The 2026 list came on 24 Dec 2025 and included Harela (16 Jul) and Igas-Bagwal (20 Nov).Dainik Jagran, 24 Dec 2025, checked 1 Nov 2026
Dehradun events 2027, month by month
Dates are for 2027. Where an event has its own page on this site, we link it for the detail.
| Date | Event | Status | Notes and source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Thu 11 Feb | Basant Panchami | Announced | Restricted holiday on the central list. DoPT |
| Sat 6 Mar | Maha Shivratri | Announced | Restricted holiday. Expect crowds at Shiva temples, Tapkeshwar among them. DoPT |
| Wed 10 Mar | Id-ul-Fitr | Announced | Gazetted, but the date can move with the moon. DoPT |
| 14 or 15 Mar | Phool Dei | Expected | Kept on Meena Sankranti, the first day of Chaitra. Sources differ for 2027: the sun enters Pisces at 7 am on Mon 15 March by one table, while Bhakti Bharat lists Sun 14 March. Not yet announced. Sankranti table, Bhakti Bharat |
| Mon 22 – Tue 23 Mar | Holika Dahan and Holi | Announced | Holi is gazetted on Tuesday; Holika Dahan is a restricted holiday on Monday. DoPT |
| Sat 27 Mar | Jhanda Mela flag day | Expected | Listed as “Jhanda Aarohan” on the Dehradun central offices’ holiday list. The fair runs for weeks after. The Darbar Sahib committee has not announced dates yet. CGEWCC Dehradun, TOI, 2026 fair |
| Mid-June | IMA Passing Out Parade | Expected | Not yet announced. The June 2026 parade was on Saturday 13 June. PIB, Jun 2026 |
| 16 or 17 Jul | Harela | Expected | A state holiday in 2026 (16 July). Karka Sankranti falls on 17 July in 2027. Uttarakhand’s 2027 list is not out yet. Dainik Jagran, Sankranti table |
| Sat 9 Oct | Dussehra | Announced | Gazetted. Falls on a Saturday. DoPT |
| Fri 29 Oct | Diwali | Announced | Gazetted. Govardhan Puja is Sat 30 Oct and Bhai Dooj Sun 31 Oct. DoPT |
| Wed 10 Nov | Igas Bagwal | Expected | Garhwal’s own Diwali, on the Ekadashi after Diwali. A state holiday in 2026 (20 November). Not yet announced for 2027. Dainik Jagran, Drik Panchang |
| Mid-December | IMA Passing Out Parade | Expected | Not yet announced. The December 2025 parade was on Saturday 13 December. PIB, Dec 2025 |
| Sat 25 Dec | Christmas | Announced | Gazetted. Falls on a Saturday; Christmas Eve (Fri 24 Dec) is a restricted holiday. DoPT |
The local dates most calendars miss
Jhanda Mela, late March
The Jhanda Mela celebrates Guru Ram Rai, who set up the first settlement in the Doon Valley in the 17th century, and it centres on his Darbar Sahib. By tradition it begins on the fifth day after Holi, Chaitra Vadi Panchami, the Times of India reported in March 2026. In 2026 the flag went up on Sunday 8 March. With Holi on 23 March 2027, the flag day is expected on Saturday 27 March. That is the same weekend as Good Friday, so expect the old town around Darbar Sahib and Paltan Bazaar to be very busy. Read our Jhanda Mela page before you come.
Phool Dei, mid-March
On the first day of Chaitra, children in Garhwal and Kumaon leave flowers on doorsteps to welcome spring. It is a home festival, not a ticketed event, so there is nothing to book. In 2027 it is expected on Sunday 14 or Monday 15 March; almanacs differ, and nothing official is announced yet.
Harela, July
Harela is the planting festival, and Uttarakhand gives it a state holiday. The 2026 holiday was on 16 July. For 2027, expect 16 or 17 July until the state list comes out. It falls in the monsoon, so if you plan a trip around it, read our guide to checking roads and weather and keep a day spare.
Igas Bagwal, November
Igas Bagwal is Garhwal’s own Diwali, kept on the Ekadashi about eleven days after the main festival. The state made it a holiday in 2026 (20 November). With Diwali on 29 October 2027, Igas is expected on Wednesday 10 November 2027, not yet announced.
The two IMA parades
The Indian Military Academy holds a passing out parade every June and every December. Recent ones have fallen on a Saturday in the middle of the month: 13 December 2025 and 13 June 2026, according to PIB. Neither 2027 date is announced yet. The Academy and the Army publish them nearer the time, and PIB carries the reports. Families coming for a cadet should plan around the date the cadet gives them. Our IMA parade page covers passes, parade-morning road diversions and timing.
Long weekends in 2027
These come from the DoPT list for central government offices. Your own office, school or state may follow a different list, and Uttarakhand’s 2027 list is not out yet. Several big holidays fall on a weekend in 2027: Independence Day and Id-e-Milad (both Sunday 15 August), Gandhi Jayanti (Saturday 2 October), Dussehra (Saturday 9 October), Guru Nanak Jayanti (Sunday 14 November) and Christmas (Saturday 25 December). The DoPT memo says no substitute holiday is given when that happens. New Year’s Day, Friday 1 January 2027, is only a restricted holiday on the central list.
| Dates | Holiday | How to stretch it |
|---|---|---|
| Sat 23 – Tue 26 Jan | Republic Day (Tue) | Take Monday 25 January off for four days. |
| Sat 20 – Sun 28 Mar | Holi (Tue 23) and Good Friday (Fri 26) | Take Mon 22, Wed 24 and Thu 25 off and you have nine days. Jhanda Mela flag day is expected on the Saturday in the middle of it. |
| Thu 15 – Mon 19 Apr | Ram Navami (Thu) and Mahavir Jayanti (Mon) | Sat–Mon is a long weekend on its own; take Friday 16 off for five days. |
| Sat 15 – Mon 17 May | Id-ul-Zuha (Mon, subject to the moon) | Buddha Purnima is Thursday 20 May, so 18, 19 and 21 May off gives nine days. |
| Fri 29 – Sun 31 Oct | Diwali (Fri) | An automatic three-day weekend, with Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj on Saturday and Sunday. |
Id-ul-Zuha, Id-ul-Fitr and Muharram depend on the moon. Don’t lock in non-refundable travel around them until the date is confirmed. Our cancellation is free until 7 days before arrival, which helps.
How we’d use this calendar
- Come a day early or leave a day late. Most holiday traffic moves at the start and end of the long weekend. Arriving the day before, or leaving the day after, keeps you out of the main rush.
- Keep the hills for weekdays. If you are here over Holi and Good Friday, do Mussoorie or Dhanaulti on the Wednesday or Thursday, and spend the holiday days in the valley.
- Pair the city festivals with the old town. The Jhanda Mela and Darbar Sahib sit in the heart of Old Dehradun. As our Instagram bio puts it, “Step into the slow, nostalgic charm of Old Dehradun.” Festival days are when that part of town is busiest, so go early in the day.
- Skip the July long weekend for hill drives. If Harela gives you a Friday off, enjoy the green valley, but check roads before any trip uphill.
- Diwali and Igas are two festivals, not one. If you can stay on into November, you see the city’s Diwali and then Garhwal’s own.
Season by season, our best time to visit page covers weather and crowds. Month pages such as Dehradun in March, July, October and November go into each festival month.
Staying for a festival or a long weekend
Fyonli Nest is a two-bedroom homestay with a full kitchen, so a family can cook on a holiday instead of queueing for a table. It sleeps four adults, or up to six guests with children aged 2 to 12, and there is parking in the courtyard.See the home and check your dates, or send us the weekend you have in mind on WhatsApp. We meet guests at the gate. As we say on Instagram, “We help our guests to experience the best of local places.”
Sources: DoPT, holidays for Central Government offices in 2027 (O.M. dated 16 July 2026); CGEWCC Dehradun, 2027 holiday list (23 Sep 2026), via StaffNews; Dainik Jagran, Uttarakhand’s 2026 public holidays (24 Dec 2025); Times of India, Jhanda Mela 2026 (8 Mar 2026); PIB, IMA parade, June 2026; PIB, IMA parade, December 2025; Swarn Siddhi, sankranti dates 2027; Bhakti Bharat, Phool Dei; Drik Panchang, Prabodhini Ekadashi 2027. All checked 1 November 2026.