Calendar
Festivals in Pondicherry
Pondicherry celebrates constantly — Tamil temple festivals, French commemorations, Auroville gatherings, and events that exist nowhere else on earth.
January
3 festivals
February
3 festivals
March
2 festivals
April
2 festivals
May
1 festival
June
1 festival
July
1 festival
August
5 festivals
September
1 festival
October
2 festivals
November
2 festivals
December
2 festivals
All Festivals
January
International Yoga Festival
Since 1993, the Government of Puducherry has organized a four-day gathering of yoga masters, scholar…
January
Pongal
The most important Tamil festival of the year: four days in mid-January, rooted in the harvest cycle…
January
Republic Day
India's Republic Day is marked in Pondicherry with a formal flag-hoisting ceremony on Goubert Avenue…
February
The Mother's Birth Anniversary
The Sri Aurobindo Ashram marks the birthday of Mirra Alfassa, known as The Mother, with silent medit…
February
Masi Magam
On Masi Magam, the deities of dozens of temples across Pondicherry are carried in long street proces…
February
Auroville Day
Auroville marks its founding anniversary with a silent dawn gathering at the Matrimandir Amphitheatr…
March
Pondicherry Heritage Festival
A month-long series of heritage walks, kayaking trips, architectural sketch meets, conservation talk…
March
Eid-ul-Fitr (Ramzan)
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan with community prayers at Pondicherry's mosques, family feasts,…
April
Easter
Easter in Pondicherry is the most French-inflected Christian festival in India: midnight masses in t…
April
Tamil New Year (Puthandu)
The Tamil New Year begins not with fireworks but with a tray of mangoes, bananas, jackfruit, flowers…
May
Villianur Temple Car Festival
Ten kilometres from Pondicherry town, on the full moon of the Tamil month of Vaikasi, thousands of d…
June
Fête de la Musique
On the longest day of the year, Pondicherry transforms into a giant stage. Free concerts, street per…
July
Bastille Day
France's national day is celebrated in Pondicherry with wreath-laying at the French War Memorial, bo…
August
Manifest Dance-Film Festival
South Asia's leading international dance-film festival, held at the Auroville bioregion and the Alli…
August
Veerampattinam Car Festival
Seven kilometres from Pondicherry, the fishing village of Veerampattinam celebrates a 450-year-old g…
August
Fête de Pondichéry
Three days of music, illuminated buildings, street food, and dancing mark Pondicherry's double celeb…
August
Sri Aurobindo's Birthday
Sri Aurobindo was born on August 15, 1872. His birthday coincides with Indian Independence Day. At t…
August
Vinayaka Chaturthi (Ganesha Festival)
Pondicherry's Ganesha festival centres on the ancient Sri Manakula Vinayagar Temple, where Ganesha h…
September
Midnight Tribe Festival
Two days of live bands, EDM, and techno on the sand at Sandunes Paradise Beach, with floating stages…
October
Ayudha Puja and Saraswathi Puja
On Ayudha Puja, Pondicherry gives thanks for the tools, machines, and instruments that sustain daily…
October
Deepavali
Deepavali in Pondicherry follows Tamil custom: families rise at 4 AM, bathe, put on new clothes, and…
November
Liberation Day
On November 1, 1954, the French tricolour was lowered over Pondicherry and the Indian flag raised fo…
November
Karthigai Deepam
On the night of Karthigai Deepam, homes across Pondicherry are lined with rows of agal vilakku, smal…
December
Christmas
Christmas in Pondicherry is unlike anywhere else in India: French pastry culture, Tamil Catholic tra…
December
New Year
Pondicherry's New Year is, by Indian city standards, unusually calm: beachfront crowds along the Pro…