Festival of lights
Diwali 2026: Sunday, 8 November 2026
Dates and venues checked against the organisers’ own pages on .
Diwali 2026 in Switzerland is on Sunday, 8 November 2026. The sun sets at 4:58 pm in Zurich. Lakshmi Puja is performed in the evening after sunset, in the pradosh period — roughly the first two and a half hours after it; the lamps are lit as it gets dark. The biggest public celebrations are the Indian Cultural Association of Switzerland’s Diwali Night in Oberwil near Basel on 31 October, the Swiss Federation for Hinduism’s Diwali Concert at the Omkarananda Ashram in Winterthur on 31 October, the Indian Students’ Association Zurich’s Diwali at ETH Zurich on 7 November, the India Swiss Association’s Diwali Dhamaka at the Allmendhaus in Basel on 14 November, the Indian Association Baden’s Diwali Gala at the Tägi in Wettingen on 14 November, BAPS Switzerland’s Diwali and Hindu New Year celebration in Zurich-Affoltern on 15 November, the Basel Tamil Sangam’s Deepavali celebration at the Aula Lysbüchel on 21 November and the Indian Association Wettingen’s Swiss Diwali Party at the Aula Margelacker on 21 November.
Switzerland’s Diwali is the Indian associations’ and the temples’, and almost all of it falls on the Saturdays from 31 October to 21 November 2026 rather than on Sunday 8 November itself. The Embassy of India in Bern lists 26 associations, and the dated 2026 programmes are the Indian Students’ Association Zurich’s Diwali at ETH (7 November, sold out when checked on 30 October), the India Swiss Association’s Diwali Dhamaka in Basel and the Indian Association Baden’s gala in Wettingen (both Saturday 14 November), BAPS Switzerland’s free Annakut celebration in Zurich-Affoltern (Sunday 15 November), and Basel Tamil Sangam’s Deepavali and the Indian Association Wettingen’s party (both Saturday 21 November). The Indian Association of Greater Zurich’s own calendar now lists its Diwali Gala for January 2027, not November. The Tamil temples, the Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple in Adliswil (founded in 1994) and the Saivanerikoodam temple in Bern’s House of Religions, are the other places for the day, but no 2026 Deepavali programme for either had turned up by 30 October.
Diwali is not a public holiday in any canton: 1 August is the only federal holiday and the cantons set the rest, and Diwali is on none of the days SECO lists as equal to Sundays. In the City of Zurich noisy fireworks are allowed without a police permit only on 1 August and on New Year, while sparklers and ground fireworks are fine outdoors, so Diwali night is lit with diyas and sparklers; a federal vote on 29 November 2026 asks whether to ban the sale and private use of noisy fireworks.
Sunday, 8 November 2026 · local time, worked out for each city centre
| Date | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Saturday, 31 October | Diwali Night 2026 (ICAS) | Wehrlinhalle, Schulstrasse 6, Oberwil (Basel-Landschaft, just outside Basel) |
| Saturday, 31 October | Diwali Concert 2026 (Swiss Federation for Hinduism) | Omkarananda Ashram, Winterthur |
| Saturday, 7 November | InSAZ Diwali 2026 | StuZ2, Universitätstrasse 6 (CAB, ETH Zurich Zentrum), Zurich |
| Sunday, 8 November | Diwali itself | Homes, temples and community dinners across the country |
| Saturday, 14 November | Diwali Dhamaka 2026 | Allmendhaus, Allmendstrasse 36, Basel |
| Saturday, 14 November | IAB Gala Diwali 2026 | Tägi Wettingen, Tägerhardstrasse 122, Wettingen (Aargau) |
| Sunday, 15 November | BAPS Switzerland Diwali and Hindu New Year Celebration 2026 | GZ Affoltern, Bodenacker 25, Zurich |
| Saturday, 21 November | Basel Tamil Sangam Deepavali Celebration 2026 | Aula Lysbüchel, Lysbüchelplatz 1, Basel |
| Saturday, 21 November | Swiss Diwali Party 2026 | Aula Margelacker, Margelstrasse 8, Wettingen (Aargau) |
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 earliest dated Diwali we found in Switzerland: a mini garba, cultural programmes and dinner, with limited hall capacity and registration with payment required by 18 October.
ICAS on Eventfrog ↗A Diwali concert listed on the news page of the Schweizerischer Dachverband für Hinduismus (SDH), the umbrella body founded in Winterthur in 2017; the page gives no programme or price.
Swiss Federation for Hinduism (SDH) ↗The students’ association’s main evening: cultural performances, a three-course Indian buffet and a Bollywood DJ party, open to everyone with advance payment only; students bring their Legi.
InSAZ on Eventfrog ↗The India Swiss Association’s Diwali for the Indian, Swiss and international communities of Basel: food and dinner from a stall, music, dance and creative activities.
India Swiss Association ↗The Indian Association Baden’s Diwali Gala under the theme “Roots to Rhythm”: culture, music, dance and dinner at the Tägi hall in Wettingen, next to Baden.
Indian Association Baden on Eventfrog ↗An Annakut darshan with a display of more than 300 food offerings, an assembly with sadhus from the Neasden temple in London from 15:30 to 17:30, a kids’ corner and a dinner from 17:30.
BAPS Switzerland on Ticket Tailor ↗The Tamil association’s Deepavali day: cultural performances of singing and dancing (registration for performers on the association’s site), a festive lunch and snacks.
Basel Tamil Sangam ↗The Indian Association Wettingen’s evening of colour, music, food and togetherness.
Indian Association Wettingen on Eventfrog ↗The Indian Students’ Association Zurich’s Diwali at ETH (Saturday 7 November) is sold out, and BAPS Switzerland’s free Diwali and Hindu New Year celebration with Annakut at GZ Affoltern follows on Sunday 15 November (14:30 to 19:30, registration required). The Indian Association of Greater Zurich, which held its gala on 1 November last year, now lists its Diwali Gala for January 2027. The Krishna Tempel Zürich (Bergstrasse 54) lists a live Ramayana theatre evening on Saturday 7 November at 18:00 and Govardhan Puja on Tuesday 10 November, with no Diwali entry, and no 2026 Deepavali programme from the Sri Sivasubramaniar Temple in Adliswil (Sihlweg 3) had turned up by 30 October.
Geneva’s Diwali belongs to the Indian Association Geneva, founded in 1947, which lists Diwali in its November calendar but showed no dated 2026 event when checked on 23 October; the Consul General of India in Geneva is a nominated member of its committee. Nothing further had turned up by 30 October — no ticketed Geneva Diwali event, and none for Geneva on the Embassy of India in Bern’s events page, last updated on 29 October — so the nearest dated celebrations are in Basel and Zurich between 7 and 21 November.
Basel has the India Swiss Association’s Diwali Dhamaka at the Allmendhaus on Saturday 14 November (CHF 10, 15:00 to 22:00, registration form) and the Basel Tamil Sangam’s Deepavali at the Aula Lysbüchel on Saturday 21 November (10:00 to 18:00, lunch included); the Indian Cultural Association of Switzerland’s Diwali Night on 31 October is in Oberwil, just outside the city. We found no temple programme for Diwali itself, Sunday 8 November, by 30 October.
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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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