Last updated: October 2026 · Method: compiled from public listings and traveller reports; treat figures as planning aids, not quotations.
Jaipur’s festival year runs from kites in January to lamps in November, and each event changes the city in a different way: some add colour, some add crowds, and at least one adds hotel surcharges.
The calendar
- January: the Kite Festival on Makar Sankranti fills the sky over the old city, and the JLF literature weekend brings the international crowd to its venues.
- March: the Gangaur processions and Holi, the most intense week of the spring.
- August: the Teej procession and Janmashtami, monsoon-season celebrations that depend on the rains behaving.
- October-November: Diwali, when the Pink City markets light up at their fullest and hotel rates peak with them.
The festival calendar dates shift with the lunar year, so confirm exact days for your dates before booking. For atmosphere, Teej and Gangaur are the local favourites; for scale, it is Kite Day and Diwali.
The planning note that saves trips: festival dates move with the lunar calendar, and the big three (Kite Day, Teej, Diwali) also move hotel prices with them. Book accommodation before you fix the itinerary, not after, in any festival week.