What's on in Pokhara (Annapurna), Nepal through the year

Busy — Pokhara Street Festival, school holidays in 6 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr), Pokhara Street Festival (28 Dec – 1 Jan)

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

• Festival

  Holi at Lakeside

  25 Feb – 25 Mar · usuallyMajor festivalClosures

  A national holiday on the full moon of Falgun: Lakeside fills with colour, water and open-air music, and shops and long-distance buses mostly stop for the day. Assume anything you wear is finished. Source ↗

Still on: Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr)

Busy — Spring trekking season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Spring trekking season

  1 Mar – 15 MayTrail seasonCrowdedBook early

  Lakeside is a staging post rather than a destination for two months: Poon Hill, Mardi Himal and the Annapurna Base Camp trail all start from here. Warmer than autumn and hazier by the week.

• Nature

  Rhododendron above Ghorepani

  15 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The forest between Ulleri and Ghorepani turns red and pink for about six weeks, which is the whole reason the Poon Hill walk is a spring trip rather than an autumn one.

Still on: Holi at Lakeside (25 Feb – 25 Mar (usually)), Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr)

Busy — Spring trekking season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Spring trekking season (1 Mar – 15 May), Rhododendron above Ghorepani (15 Mar – 30 Apr (usually)), Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr)

Busy — Spring trekking season, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Spring trekking season (1 Mar – 15 May)

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

• Season

  Monsoon on the lake

  10 Jun – 20 Sep · usuallyRisk

  The wettest city in Nepal, by a distance. Fewa rises, the Annapurnas are behind cloud for weeks, the trails leech, and the highway from Kathmandu closes for landslides.

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 on the lake (10 Jun – 20 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 on the lake (10 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Monsoon on the lake (10 Jun – 20 Sep (usually))

Busy — Autumn trekking season, school holidays in 3 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Autumn trekking season

  1 Oct – 30 NovTrail seasonCrowdedBook early

  The rain has scrubbed the air and Machhapuchhre is in the water at dawn. It is also when every lodge on the Annapurna routes is full and the flights in are the year's dearest.

• Season

  Paragliding season

  1 Oct – 15 AprDry season

  Tandem flights off Sarangkot run through the dry half of the year, taking the mid-morning thermals over the lake. Flights are grounded on cloud and wind, which is most of the monsoon.

Busy — Autumn trekking season

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Autumn trekking season (1 Oct – 30 Nov), Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr)

Busy — Pokhara Street Festival, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Pokhara Street Festival

  28 Dec – 1 JanChristmas & New YearCrowdedClosures

  Lakeside road closes to traffic for five days over the western new year and turns into a three-kilometre run of food stalls and stages. Rooms on the strip go early and sleep is optional. Source ↗

Still on: Paragliding season (1 Oct – 15 Apr)