What's on in Pune (Poona), India through the year

Busy — Winter break in India, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in January.

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

• Hazard

  Deccan pre-monsoon heat

  1 Apr – 31 May · usuallyExtreme heat

  The city that sells itself as the cool alternative to Mumbai stops being one for two months. Anything social moves to after dark and the hill forts west of town become a dawn-only proposition. Source ↗

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Deccan pre-monsoon heat (1 Apr – 31 May (usually))

Peak crowds — Palkhi processions, Waterfalls in the ghats

• Festival

  Palkhi processions

  15 Jun – 20 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  The palanquins of Dnyaneshwar and Tukaram leave Alandi and Dehu and come through the city on the walk to Pandharpur, with hundreds of thousands behind them. Roads on the route shut for a day and the city turns out to feed them. Source ↗

• Season

  Waterfalls in the ghats

  20 Jun – 15 Sep · usuallyHigh waterCrowded

  Every fall in the ghats west of the city runs, and the weekend traffic out to Lonavala and the fort trails is unbearable because of it. Best walking of the year and the most slippery, in the same weeks.

Peak crowds — Palkhi processions, Waterfalls in the ghats

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Palkhi processions (15 Jun – 20 Jul (usually)), Waterfalls in the ghats (20 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Waterfalls in the ghats, Ganesh Chaturthi

• Festival

  Ganesh Chaturthi

  20 Aug – 20 Sep · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  Pune's is the public version the rest of the country copied: ten days of mandals, a queue at Dagdusheth that runs for hours, and an immersion procession through the old city that takes more than a day to pass. Source ↗

Still on: Waterfalls in the ghats (20 Jun – 15 Sep (usually))

Peak crowds — Waterfalls in the ghats, Ganesh Chaturthi

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Waterfalls in the ghats (20 Jun – 15 Sep (usually)), Ganesh Chaturthi (20 Aug – 20 Sep (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in October.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

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

• Festival

  Sawai Gandharva Bhimsen Mahotsav

  5–20 Dec · usuallyMajor festivalBook early

  The country's best-known classical music gathering has run here since 1953 and fills several nights in December, some of them until the small hours. Season passes sell out and the city treats it as its own. Source ↗