What's on in Kolkata (Calcutta), India through the year

Peak crowds — International Kolkata Book Fair, Park Street at Christmas

• Festival

  International Kolkata Book Fair

  20 Jan – 8 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  A fortnight on the Salt Lake ground that draws crowds a book fair has no business drawing, plus food stalls and evening music. The metro out to it is standing room after six. Source ↗

Still on: Park Street at Christmas (18 Dec – 1 Jan)

Busy — International Kolkata Book Fair, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in February.

Still on: International Kolkata Book Fair (20 Jan – 8 Feb (usually))

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

• Hazard

  Kalbaisakhi storm season

  20 Mar – 20 May · usually

  Late-afternoon squall lines come out of the northwest through the hot months, drop the temperature in minutes and take trees and hoardings down with them. Flights hold; the city rather enjoys them. Source ↗

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

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Kalbaisakhi storm season (20 Mar – 20 May (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Kalbaisakhi storm season (20 Mar – 20 May (usually))

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

• Season

  Monsoon and waterlogging

  10 Jun – 25 Sep · usuallyRisk

  The rain arrives in the second week of June and the low-lying parts of the city stand in water for hours after a heavy morning, because the drains empty into a river that is itself in flood.

Quiet — school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Monsoon and waterlogging (10 Jun – 25 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Monsoon and waterlogging (10 Jun – 25 Sep (usually))

Quiet — school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it, one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Durga Puja

  16–21 OctMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  The one week of the year the city stops working and walks all night between commissioned pandals, some of them serious art. Hotels and trains are booked out months ahead and the traffic plan changes daily. Source ↗

Still on: Monsoon and waterlogging (10 Jun – 25 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Durga Puja, Autumn break (Dussehra / Diwali) in India

• Festival

  Kali Puja and Diwali

  8–9 NovCrowdedRisk

  Bengal's own version comes three weeks after Durga Puja: night-long pujas, lit courtyards, and firecrackers that put the air into its worst readings of the year for two days. Source ↗

Still on: Durga Puja (16–21 Oct)

Peak crowds — Kali Puja and Diwali, Kolkata International Film Festival

• Festival

  Kolkata International Film Festival

  25 Nov – 20 Dec · usuallyCrowded

  A week of screenings around Nandan and the Rabindra Sadan complex, mostly free or nearly so, with queues that form before the box office opens. Dates are announced late each year. Source ↗

Still on: Kali Puja and Diwali (8–9 Nov)

Peak crowds — Kolkata International Film Festival, Park Street at Christmas

• Holiday

  Park Street at Christmas

  18 Dec – 1 JanChristmas & New YearCrowded

  Park Street is strung with lights and closed to cars on the big nights, and the crowd is the point rather than the shopping. It lands in the coolest, cleanest fortnight of the Kolkata year. Source ↗

Still on: Kolkata International Film Festival (25 Nov – 20 Dec (usually))