Kerala’s harvest festival
Onam
Kerala’s harvest festival: a 26-dish sadya on a banana leaf, pookalam flower carpets, and Malayali associations everywhere booking a hall for it.
- Onam 2026
- Wednesday, 26 August 2026
Onam events near you
What Onam is
Onam welcomes the mythical king Mahabali home to Kerala. The ten days end on Thiruvonam with the Onasadya — a vegetarian feast of two dozen dishes served on a banana leaf — and are marked with pookalam floral designs, boat races, and the tiger dance, pulikali.
Abroad the Malayali associations hire a hall on the nearest Saturday, cook the sadya for several hundred people, and run a cultural programme of thiruvathira dance, songs and children’s performances. Tickets go to members first and sell out; non-members should ask early.
Onam in Belgium
Brussels, Antwerp and Ghent each have a Malayali association with an Onam celebration; banana leaves and Kerala vegetables are stocked by the Indian grocers in Brussels and Antwerp the week before.
Onam in the Netherlands
The Netherlands Malayalee associations in the Amsterdam, Eindhoven and The Hague areas hold the biggest Onam sadyas in the Benelux.
If it is your first one abroad
- The sadya is eaten by hand, seated, and served in a fixed order — follow your neighbour.
- Wear white and gold (kasavu) if you have it; it is the one day the whole hall does.
Previous Onam events
Most of these return every year with the same organisers.
Questions people ask
- When is Onam in 2026?
- Thiruvonam falls on 26 August 2026. Association celebrations abroad are usually on the Saturday closest to it or the one after.
Other festivals
See these events ranked by distance
RSVP, see who else is going, chat with the organiser and get a reminder — in the app, free, in every country.
Organising something?
Post it from the app under Events, wherever you are. It is free, a moderator checks it, and it appears here and to every member nearby. Running several a year? Email hello@namaste.community for a listing invite.