What's on in Udaipur, 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: Destination wedding season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)

Busy — Udaipur World Music Festival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Udaipur World Music Festival

  1–20 Feb · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Three days across the Gandhi Ground, Fateh Sagar and Ambrai Ghat, free to walk into, with acts from a dozen countries. Dates move a little each year and are announced in the winter. Source ↗

Still on: Destination wedding season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)

Busy — Mewar Festival, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Mewar Festival

  15 Mar – 20 Apr · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Udaipur's version of Gangaur: two days of processions down to Gangaur Ghat, boats out on Pichola and fireworks over the water. It is the one festival built around the lake rather than the palace. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Mewar Festival, Summer vacation (Kerala / far south) in India

• Hazard

  Pre-monsoon heat

  25 Apr – 20 Jun · usuallyExtreme heat

  The Aravallis hold the heat in the bowl the city sits in, and in a dry year the lakes are low enough to walk out on. Rooftop restaurants are unusable until well after sunset. Source ↗

Still on: Mewar Festival (15 Mar – 20 Apr (usually))

Busy — Summer vacation (north & east) in India

Nothing new starts in May.

Still on: Pre-monsoon heat (25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in June.

Still on: Pre-monsoon heat (25 Apr – 20 Jun (usually))

Busy — Hariyali Amavasya fair, school holidays in 5 of the markets that fill it

• Season

  Monsoon and the lakes filling

  1 Jul – 15 Sep · usually

  The hills go green and Pichola and Fateh Sagar refill. When the overflow gates open the whole city drives out to watch, which tells you how much the lakes matter here.

• Festival

  Hariyali Amavasya fair

  10 Jul – 15 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedClosures

  A two-day monsoon fair around Fateh Sagar with swings, food stalls and folk stages. The second day is open to women and children only, which is unusual enough to be worth timing for. Source ↗

Busy — Hariyali Amavasya fair, school holidays in 4 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Monsoon and the lakes filling (1 Jul – 15 Sep (usually)), Hariyali Amavasya fair (10 Jul – 15 Aug (usually))

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

Nothing new starts in September.

Still on: Monsoon and the lakes filling (1 Jul – 15 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

• Season

  Destination wedding season

  1 Nov – 28 FebClosuresBook early

  The lake palaces and the havelis take whole-property bookings all winter, and a hotel you booked months ago can turn out to be closed to non-guests for three days. Confirm before you build a trip around one.

Peak crowds — Shilpgram Utsav, Winter break in India

• Festival

  Shilpgram Utsav

  21–30 DecMajor festivalCrowded

  Ten days at the crafts village outside town, with several hundred artisans and folk performers from western India and a crowd in the hundreds of thousands. Cheap, chaotic and the real thing. Source ↗

Still on: Destination wedding season (1 Nov – 28 Feb)