Festival of lights
Diwali 2026: Sunday, 8 November 2026
Dates and venues checked against the organisers’ own pages on .
Diwali 2026 in Belgium is on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The biggest public celebration is the Brussels Diwali Festival at the Atomium on 24–25 October.
Belgium’s biggest Diwali is the Brussels Diwali Festival on the square in front of the Atomium: two days of food stalls, dance and music from across India’s regions, a Bollywood party and fireworks, organised by Art India, with one ticket covering either day or both (€10 online until 30 September, €15 at the gate, under-12s free). In 2026 it is on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 October — its tenth edition — two weeks before Diwali itself on Sunday 8 November.
Beyond Brussels, the Antwerp Indian Association (founded in 1979) holds the community’s Diwali evening in Antwerp, and student and regional associations in Leuven and Ghent hold their own on the weekends around the date. Most Indian restaurants put on a Diwali menu for the fortnight. Communes set their own fireworks rules and most forbid private fireworks without a permit, so at home the night is lit with diyas and sparklers.
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 24–25 October | Brussels Diwali Festival | Square de l’Atomium, Laeken (Brussels) |
| Sunday, 8 November | Diwali itself | Homes, temples and community dinners across the country |
Friday, 6 November
Dhanteras
Saturday, 7 November
Naraka Chaturdashi (Choti Diwali)
Sunday, 8 November
Diwali — Lakshmi Puja
Monday, 9 November
Govardhan Puja and Annakut
Tuesday, 10 November
Bhai Dooj
The tenth edition of Belgium’s largest Diwali: two days of food from across India, classical and folk dance, music, a Bollywood party and fireworks at the foot of the Atomium. Organised by Art India.
Art India — Brussels Diwali Festival ↗The Diwali evening of the Antwerp Indian Association, founded in 1979 and some six hundred members strong — a community dinner and cultural programme that India’s ambassador to Belgium has attended.
Antwerp Indian Association ↗The Brussels Diwali Festival at the Atomium (24–25 October 2026) is the one to plan around; on the weekend of Diwali itself, 7–8 November, associations and restaurants across the capital hold dinners and pujas. Every one posted to the community is listed above.
Antwerp’s Indian community — among the oldest in Belgium, built around the diamond trade — celebrates with the Antwerp Indian Association’s Diwali evening and in family gatherings and temple pujas on the Diwali weekend.
The university towns celebrate through their Indian student associations, usually with a Diwali night on a weekend close to the date — open to anyone who buys a ticket.
Once a week, and only when something new is on within 10 km of where you live — garba nights, Diwali melas, meetups, concerts. Free, and one click switches it off.
The Namaste Community app finds everything around you in Belgium and in every other country — free.
The biggest night of the Indian year: lamps, sweets, new clothes and fireworks. Abroad it is celebrated over the surrounding weekends, with one large public event in most big cities.
Diwali marks the return of Rama to Ayodhya and the victory of light over darkness; for many families it is also the day of Lakshmi Puja and the start of a new business year. Homes are cleaned and lit with diyas, sweets are exchanged, and the evening ends with fireworks.
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