Social media calendar for India
Diwali 2026: date and social media post ideas
Diwali 2026 is on Sunday, 8 November 2026, a gazetted holiday on the Government of India's (DoPT) list. For most consumer brands it is the biggest greeting of the year. Karwa Chauth comes ten days before it and Bhai Dooj three days after, so the festive run on social media starts in late October and ends in mid-November.
Dates around Diwali 2026
| Date | Occasion | Post idea |
|---|---|---|
| 20 Oct 2026Tue | Dussehra (Vijaya Dashami)Gazetted holiday | Good-over-evil framing: a problem your product fixes. Navratri runs for the nine nights before it, so a 9-post series works. |
| 29 Oct 2026Thu | Karwa ChauthRestricted holiday | Gifting, fashion, beauty and food brands. Schedule the post for the morning; the fast ends at moonrise. |
| 8 Nov 2026Sun | DiwaliGazetted holiday | Your biggest greeting of the year. Schedule the sale teaser 7-10 days out and the greeting for the morning of the day. |
| 9 Nov 2026Mon | Govardhan PujaRestricted holiday | Follow-up greeting; also a natural day to thank customers after Diwali. |
| 11 Nov 2026Wed | Bhai DoojRestricted holiday | Sibling-gifting angle for retail and D2C brands. |
| 15 Nov 2026Sun | Chhath PujaRestricted holiday | Important in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP. Localise if you have audiences there. |
Five post ideas for Diwali 2026
A countdown teaser, 7-10 days out
Say what you are running (an offer, a launch, a gift guide) and the day it starts. People plan Diwali shopping early, and a teaser gives the greeting on the day something to land on.
A gift guide by budget
A carousel sorted by price (under ₹500, under ₹2,000, above) works for retail and D2C brands. A services business can post what clients should wrap up before the holiday week instead.
Behind the scenes of the festive rush
Orders being packed, the office rangoli, the team on the last working day. Real photos of your people do better than stock diyas; ask before you post anyone.
The greeting, on the morning of the day
Short, warm and without a discount in it. Schedule it for early morning India time so it is waiting when people open their phones.
A thank-you after the festival
Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj follow within three days. A thank-you to customers works there, and if you ran a sale, one honest number (orders shipped, families served) beats a generic message.
When to schedule
- Write everything a week ahead and schedule it, including the greeting: on the day itself nobody on your team will want to post by hand.
- Bhai Dooj is a gifting day for retail and D2C brands, so its post needs the same lead time as the Diwali teaser.
- Chhath Puja follows a week later and matters most in Bihar, Jharkhand and eastern UP. Localise if you have audiences there.
Hookpost schedules the same post to several networks at the time you pick, in India time. Standard is ₹599 a month for 5 channels, and it starts with a 3-day trial. Using Instagram, Facebook or YouTube's own scheduler instead? The step-by-step guide in Hinglish covers each one.
Dates are from the Government of India, Department of Personnel & Training, holiday lists for 2026 and 2027 (gazetted and restricted holidays for offices in Delhi/New Delhi). Restricted holidays vary by state, and lunar festivals can fall a day apart by region. The full list, with sources and a CSV and calendar download, is on the social media calendar for India.