What's on in Madikeri, India through the year

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Winter break in India

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Coffee harvest (15 Nov – 31 Jan (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in March.

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

Nothing new starts in April.

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

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

Nothing new starts in June.

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

Nothing new starts in July.

Shoulder season — school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it, an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in August.

Busy — Madikeri Dasara, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Kail Podh

  3 SepMajor festival

  The Kodava festival of arms, kept on the third of September, when the guns come down off the wall, are cleaned and blessed, and the families shoot at targets in the yard. A household affair rather than a public one. Source ↗

• Festival

  Madikeri Dasara

  20 Sep – 25 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Ten nights building to a procession of illuminated mantapas the height of a house, dragged through the town until dawn. The last two nights the streets are impassable and every room in the district is taken. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Madikeri Dasara, Kaveri Sankramana at Talakaveri

• Festival

  Kaveri Sankramana at Talakaveri

  14–20 Oct · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  At a set moment in mid-October the spring at the river's source rises in the tank, and thousands are there on the hill to see it and bathe. The road up from Bhagamandala is single track and takes hours that morning. Source ↗

Still on: Madikeri Dasara (20 Sep – 25 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

• Nature

  Coffee harvest

  15 Nov – 31 Jan · usually

  Arabica comes off first and robusta into January, and the estates run on migrant labour and drying yards for three months. Homestays on working estates are the point of coming here in this window.

• Festival

  Puttari

  20 Nov – 15 Dec · usuallyHarvest

  The Kodava harvest festival, always on a full moon night at the end of the year: the first sheaf is cut by torchlight, then the village dances in the open ground until it gets light. Source ↗

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

Nothing new starts in December.

Still on: Coffee harvest (15 Nov – 31 Jan (usually)), Puttari (20 Nov – 15 Dec (usually))