What's on in Srinagar, India through the year

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

Nothing new starts in January.

Still on: Chillai Kalan (21 Dec – 31 Jan)

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

Nothing new starts in February.

Peak crowds — Eid al-Fitr, Tulip garden opens

• Nature

  Almond blossom at Badamwari

  5–31 Mar · usuallyWildflowers & blooms

  The old almond orchard under Hari Parbat comes out first, a fortnight before anything else in the valley, and the city walks through it on Sunday afternoons with a flask.

• Holiday

  Eid al-Fitr

  5–31 Mar · usuallyRamadan & EidCrowdedClosures

  The end of Ramadan is one of Kashmir's biggest holidays: markets and government offices close for a day or two, mosques fill for morning prayers, and hill resorts like Gulmarg see a surge of domestic visitors. Source ↗

• Opening

  Tulip garden opens

  18 Mar – 30 Apr · usuallyWildflowers & bloomsCrowded

  The terraced garden below the Zabarwan opens for about a month once the beds are ready, usually from the third week of March, and peaks in the first week of April. Opening day is announced days ahead. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Tulip garden opens, Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Tulip garden opens (18 Mar – 30 Apr (usually))

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season, Summer hill-station rush

• Season

  Summer hill-station rush

  15 May – 15 JulSchool holidaysCrowdedBook early

  Kashmir's peak domestic season. Houseboats on the Dal charge their top rate, the boulevard is solid from four onwards, and the shikara men do not need to negotiate.

• Holiday

  Eid al-Adha

  15 May – 5 Jun · usuallyRamadan & EidClosures

  The Feast of Sacrifice closes markets and offices across the valley for a day; family visits and the smell of grilled meat replace the usual bazaar trade in Srinagar's old city. Source ↗

• Festival

  Kheer Bhawani Mela

  20 May – 25 Jun · usuallyReligious feastCrowded

  Kashmiri Pandits gather at the Kheer Bhawani spring shrine in Tulmulla, about 27 km from Srinagar, on Jyeshtha Ashtami (usually late May or June), to offer milk pudding to the goddess; the spring's changing colour is read as an omen, and Muslim neighbours often host the visiting pilgrims. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Summer hill-station rush, Eid al-Adha

• Holiday

  Amarnath Yatra

  25 Jun – 20 Aug · usuallyPilgrimage seasonCrowdedClosures

  Several hundred thousand pilgrims move through the valley over about six weeks. Convoys get road priority on the Pahalgam and Sonamarg routes, security is heavy, and rooms are hard to find in town. Source ↗

Still on: Summer hill-station rush (15 May – 15 Jul), Eid al-Adha (15 May – 5 Jun (usually)), Kheer Bhawani Mela (20 May – 25 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — Summer hill-station rush, Amarnath Yatra

Nothing new starts in July.

Still on: Summer hill-station rush (15 May – 15 Jul), Amarnath Yatra (25 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Amarnath Yatra (25 Jun – 20 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

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

• Nature

  Saffron harvest at Pampore

  20 Oct – 15 Nov · usually

  The fields fifteen kilometres out flower purple for two or three weeks and whole families pick them before the sun is up. Buy at a farm rather than on the boulevard if you are buying at all.

• Nature

  Chinars turning

  20 Oct – 20 Nov · usuallyAutumn colour

  The Mughal gardens and the chinar avenue at Naseem Bagh go red and copper for about a month, and the crowds have gone home by then. The quietest good weeks of the Srinagar year.

Peak crowds — travelers describe it as peak season

Nothing new starts in November.

Still on: Saffron harvest at Pampore (20 Oct – 15 Nov (usually)), Chinars turning (20 Oct – 20 Nov (usually))

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

• Hazard

  Chillai Kalan

  21 Dec – 31 JanExtreme coldClosures

  The forty days the valley counts as the real winter: pipes freeze, parts of the Dal ice over, and heavy snow shuts the Jawahar tunnel and grounds flights for a day at a time. Houseboats run on kangris and hope. Source ↗