When Is Diwali?
Diwali 2026 falls on Sunday, November 8.
Diwali — Deepavali in Singapore and Malaysia — is the festival of lights, set by the new moon of the Hindu month of Kartika. Three of the calendars on this site make it a public holiday, and they do not always print the same date: the Indian gazette and the Singapore and Malaysia gazettes follow slightly different reckonings of which night of the five-day festival is the one that counts.
Also known as: Deepavali · Festival of Lights · दीपावली
The short answer
3 countries and regions in our calendar mark it. Dates and days off below cover 2025–2028.
- 2025
- Monday, October 20
- 2026
- Sunday, November 8
- 2027
- Friday, October 29
- 2028
- Tuesday, October 17
Dates year by year
Who gets the day off
Every row is derived from that country’s official calendar on this site, so the day counts include substitute days and government bridge days exactly as gazetted.
Diwali 2025
| Country / region | Called | Date | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|
| India | Diwali (Deepavali)A gazetted central holiday; many states add Govardhan Puja or Bhai Dooj around it. | October 20, 2025 | 1days |
| Malaysia | DeepavaliA federal public holiday nationwide except Sarawak, with a replacement day if it falls on a Sunday. | October 20, 2025 | 1days |
| Singapore | DeepavaliOne of Singapore’s four religious public holidays, with an in-lieu day when it falls on a Sunday. | October 20, 2025 | 1days |
India
Malaysia
SingaporeDiwali 2026
| Country / region | Called | Date | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malaysia | DeepavaliA federal public holiday nationwide except Sarawak, with a replacement day if it falls on a Sunday. | Nov 8 – 9 | 2days |
| Singapore | DeepavaliOne of Singapore’s four religious public holidays, with an in-lieu day when it falls on a Sunday. | Nov 8 – 9 | 2days |
| India | Diwali (Deepavali)A gazetted central holiday; many states add Govardhan Puja or Bhai Dooj around it. | November 8, 2026 | 1days |
Diwali 2027
| Country / region | Called | Date | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Singapore | DeepavaliOne of Singapore’s four religious public holidays, with an in-lieu day when it falls on a Sunday. | October 28, 2027 | 1days |
| India | Diwali (Deepavali)A gazetted central holiday; many states add Govardhan Puja or Bhai Dooj around it. | October 29, 2027 | 1days |
| Malaysia Provisional | DeepavaliA federal public holiday nationwide except Sarawak, with a replacement day if it falls on a Sunday. | October 29, 2027 | 1days |
Rows marked provisional show only the dates already fixed. Where a government sets the length of the break by annual decree — mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia — the full arrangement has not been published for that year yet, so treat those day counts as a floor and any blank as "not announced", not as a working day.
Diwali 2028
| Country / region | Called | Date | Days off |
|---|---|---|---|
| India Provisional | Diwali (Deepavali)A gazetted central holiday; many states add Govardhan Puja or Bhai Dooj around it. | October 17, 2028 | 1days |
| Malaysia Provisional | DeepavaliA federal public holiday nationwide except Sarawak, with a replacement day if it falls on a Sunday. | October 17, 2028 | 1days |
| Singapore Provisional | DeepavaliOne of Singapore’s four religious public holidays, with an in-lieu day when it falls on a Sunday. | October 17, 2028 | 1days |
Rows marked provisional show only the dates already fixed. Where a government sets the length of the break by annual decree — mainland China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia — the full arrangement has not been published for that year yet, so treat those day counts as a floor and any blank as "not announced", not as a working day.
Why the date can differ between India and Southeast Asia
Diwali is a five-night festival. North Indian practice centres on Lakshmi Puja, on the new moon night; South Indian and much of the diaspora practice centres on Naraka Chaturdashi, the night before. Singapore and Malaysia, whose Tamil communities set the local observance, therefore gazette a date that can sit a day earlier than the North Indian one — and in some years the published dates diverge further because each authority resolves the astronomical timing against its own local midnight.
The comparison table below prints exactly what each government gazetted, without smoothing the difference away. If you are coordinating across offices in Chennai, Kuala Lumpur and Singapore, treat the earliest and latest dates in a given row as the real planning window.
Where Diwali is a day off — and where it is not
India gazettes it centrally; Malaysia makes it a federal holiday everywhere except Sarawak; Singapore lists it as one of four religious public holidays and adds an in-lieu Monday when it falls on a Sunday. Elsewhere in our coverage — Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines, Hong Kong — it is celebrated by communities but is an ordinary working day.
Go deeper
Frequently asked questions
What date is Diwali in 2026 and 2027?+
Deepavali is gazetted for 8 November 2026 and 29 October 2027 in India and Malaysia. Singapore, which follows Tamil practice, can gazette a day earlier — it does in 2027, on 28 October. The year-by-year and country tables above show each date exactly as published.
Why is Deepavali on a different day in Singapore and India?+
The five-night festival has two candidate "main" nights — Naraka Chaturdashi and Lakshmi Puja — and Tamil practice, which sets the Singapore and Malaysia dates, weights them differently from North Indian practice. Each authority also resolves the astronomical moment against its own local time.
Is Diwali a public holiday in Singapore?+
Yes. Deepavali is one of Singapore’s eleven gazetted public holidays, and when it falls on a Sunday the following Monday is granted in lieu.
How many days is the Diwali holiday?+
One day in all three countries, plus an in-lieu day in Singapore and Malaysia when it lands on a Sunday. The cultural festival runs five nights, but only one of them is gazetted.
Why does Diwali move in the Gregorian calendar?+
It is set by the Hindu lunisolar calendar — the new moon of Kartika — which drifts against the Gregorian year, placing Diwali anywhere between mid-October and mid-November.