Diwali at Times Square returns October 24 for its 11th edition

The organisers of Diwali at Times Square, a public Diwali festival held in the heart of New York City, announced on October 19, 2026 that the event's 11th edition will take place on Saturday, October 24, 2026. The festival is organised by the non-profit Sammaan For All, whose founder and president is Neeta Bhasin. Entry is free and no ticket is needed, and the day will include a live concert, a diya-lighting ceremony, a Diwali bazaar and cultural performances.

Times Square is one of the busiest public spaces in the world, and holding a Diwali festival there each year makes the festival visible to people far beyond the Indian community. The event is now in its second decade: the 10th-anniversary edition was held on November 9, 2025, and the organisers ran a lit-up truck tour through New Jersey communities in late September this year to promote the 2026 edition. For the Indian diaspora in the United States, a festival at the centre of Manhattan is a public statement of cultural presence, not only a private celebration at home or in a temple.

The programme also reflects who celebrates Diwali in New York today. The 'Colors of India and America' showcase brings together performers from India and from the Indo-Caribbean community, whose families trace their roots to India. Putting both on one stage shows that Diwali in the diaspora is shared by people whose ties to India run across several generations and countries.

According to tradition, Diwali, the festival of lights, celebrates the victory of light over darkness and of good over evil. In much of north India it is linked to Lord Rama's return to Ayodhya, and on the main day households worship Goddess Lakshmi. Lighting diyas, small oil lamps, drawing rangoli patterns at the entrance and sharing sweets are among its best-known customs, and each of these will feature at the Times Square event.

The New York festival comes two weeks before Diwali itself because organisers hold public diaspora events on weekends in October and November, when outdoor gatherings are easier to stage.

Short-term: Visitors to Midtown Manhattan on October 24 can join the festival free of charge. The organisers have said performer registrations are closed, so the programme is now fixed.

Long-term: Annual public events such as this help keep Indian festivals visible to second- and third-generation diaspora children and to non-Indian New Yorkers, and they give Indian artists a stage in one of the world's largest media markets.

Who is affected: The Indian and Indo-Caribbean communities of New York and New Jersey, Indian performers and small businesses taking part in the bazaar, tourists in Times Square, and families looking for a public Diwali celebration for their children.

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