Dussehra, or Vijayadashami, falls on Tuesday 20 October 2026. Diwali is nearly three weeks later, on Sunday 8 November. That gap matters for travel: the heavy flight demand in the last week of October is Dussehra return traffic, not Diwali traffic, and people who book assuming otherwise get the timing wrong.
Updated August 2026 · HappyFares
Dussehra and Diwali get treated as one festive block. In 2026 they are 19 days apart, and the travel patterns are completely separate.
When is Dussehra 2026?
Vijayadashami falls on Tuesday 20 October 2026, the tenth day, closing the nine nights of Sharad Navratri. The same day is observed as Bijoya Dashami in Bengal, where it ends Durga Puja, and some Bengali panchangs place that observance on 21 October.
Because 20 October is a Tuesday, there is a four-day stretch available from Saturday 17 October to Tuesday 20 October by taking only Monday 19 October as leave. That is the single most useful scheduling fact for this festival, and it is also why the outbound wave concentrates on the Friday evening and Saturday.
Why is the late-October rush not Diwali travel?
This is the trap. With Diwali on 8 November, nobody is travelling for Diwali in the last week of October. What fills those flights is people going home for the Dussehra long weekend, and then coming back.
The return wave runs from roughly 21 to 27 October, immediately after Vijayadashami. If you search fares in that window and conclude that Diwali travel is expensive, you have misread the calendar. Diwali’s own waves sit in the first and second weeks of November, with the outbound building from about 4 November and the return running through the week after 8 November.
Practically, that means two separate booking decisions rather than one. If you are travelling for both, you are buying two round trips in two different demand windows, and the cheaper strategy for each is different.
Where does Dussehra travel actually go?
Unlike Chhath, which has a clear geographic funnel, Dussehra scatters, because it is celebrated very differently across the country.
Kullu Dussehra in Himachal Pradesh begins on Vijayadashami and runs for about a week, so it is one of the few places where the festival starts rather than ends on 20 October, and the travel window extends later. Mysuru Dasara in Karnataka is the other large draw, built around the palace illumination and the procession. Bastar Dussehra in Chhattisgarh runs on its own much longer calendar.
Across north India the day is marked by Ramlila performances and Ravan Dahan in the evening, which keeps a lot of travel local. In Bengal, Odisha and Assam the same date closes Durga Puja, and in Gujarat the preceding nine nights of Garba are the main event rather than the tenth day.
How should you book around it?
Treat the outbound and the return as separate problems, because they have different pressure points. The outbound concentrates on Friday 16 and Saturday 17 October, so a Thursday evening departure is often easier. The return concentrates on 21 and 22 October, so a Friday 23 or weekend return usually sits in a thinner part of the wave.
If you are heading to Kullu, remember the festival there runs past Dashami, which spreads demand out and gives you more usable dates than the metro return pattern suggests. For Mysuru, Bengaluru is the practical gateway and the road leg is the constraint rather than the flight.
Book both legs together. On compressed festival dates the return is the scarce one, and leaving it open to sort out later is how people end up paying for flexibility they did not want.
What about the gap between Dussehra and Diwali?
The 19 days between them are, counterintuitively, one of the better travel windows in the autumn. The Dussehra wave has cleared by about 28 October and the Diwali build has not started. Weather across most of the country is at its most pleasant, and the school calendar has not yet hit the Diwali break.
If your leave is flexible and you are travelling for a holiday rather than to family, the last days of October and the first days of November are worth pricing before you default to either festival week.
Common Questions
What date is Dussehra 2026?
Tuesday 20 October 2026. It is also called Vijayadashami, and it closes Sharad Navratri.
Is Dussehra the same as Durga Puja?
They overlap. Vijayadashami is the tenth day of both. In Bengal it is Bijoya Dashami and marks the immersion, while across north India it is Dussehra and Ravan Dahan.
How many days between Dussehra and Diwali in 2026?
Nineteen days. Dussehra is 20 October and Diwali is 8 November.
Is Dussehra a public holiday?
Vijayadashami is a gazetted holiday, though state observance around it varies, and several states add days for Durga Puja or Navratri.
When is the best day to fly back after Dussehra?
The heaviest return demand sits on 21 and 22 October. Returning on 23 October or later usually finds a thinner window.
Should I book Dussehra and Diwali trips together?
Book them as separate round trips. They sit in different demand windows nearly three weeks apart, and the timing that works for one does not apply to the other.
Compare Dussehra and Diwali dates side by side on HappyFares and see how the two waves price differently before you book either.
Festival dates follow the lunisolar calendar and observance varies by region and panchang. Confirm dates locally, and verify schedules and holidays before you travel.
