What's on in Jaipur, India through the year

Peak crowds — Jaipur Literature Festival, Winter break in India

• Festival

  Makar Sankranti kite day

  14–15 JanMajor festivalClosures

  The city spends the day on its roofs cutting each other's kite strings, and the old town shuts down around it. Glass-coated line takes down birds and the odd scooter rider, so the flyovers get netted. Source ↗

• Festival

  Jaipur Literature Festival

  14–24 Jan · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Five days, free to attend if you register, and big enough that hotel rates across the city move for it. The venue has changed more than once, so check where it is before booking a room near it. Source ↗

Busy — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, one of its best months for weather

Nothing new starts in February.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

• Festival

  Gangaur

  15 Mar – 15 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalClosures

  Two afternoons of processions out of the City Palace at Tripolia Gate, with elephants, camels and the palanquins of the goddess. The Tripolia and Chaugan routes close to traffic for hours. Source ↗

Busy — Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Hazard

  Pre-monsoon heat

  25 Apr – 20 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  Amber and Nahargarh are open sandstone with no shade on them, and the desert wind off the west makes the afternoons worse rather than better. Local practice is fort at dawn, city after six. Source ↗

Still on: Gangaur (15 Mar – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Pre-monsoon heat (25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Pre-monsoon heat (25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Busy — Teej, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Monsoon in the Aravallis

  1 Jul – 15 Sep · usually

  The hills behind Amber go green for the only stretch of the year and the lake below the fort fills. Rooms are at their cheapest and the tour buses are somewhere else.

• Festival

  Teej

  25 Jul – 25 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A two-century-old procession of the goddess out of Tripolia Gate through the bazaars, in the middle of the monsoon and deliberately so. Grandstand seats in the old city are ticketed by the state. Source ↗

Busy — Teej, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Monsoon in the Aravallis (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Teej (25 Jul – 25 Aug (usually))

Shoulder season — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Monsoon in the Aravallis (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Diwali in the bazaars

  8 NovCrowdedClosures

  Johari, Bapu and Tripolia bazaars compete to light the whole pink facade, and the walled city is closed to cars for several nights. It is the one time the old town is worth seeing after dark. Source ↗

Busy — Diwali in the bazaars

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Diwali in the bazaars (8 Nov)

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.