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Diwali 2025: Where to Celebrate in the Bay Area

Nisa Khan
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Children play with firecrackers during Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Mumbai, India, on Oct. 31, 2024. Trying to find a spot to celebrate Diwali in the Bay Area? KQED has a roundup of festivals, parties and dinners in the region.  (Indranil Aditya/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Diwali — or Deepawali — is approaching this month, on Oct. 20. And the Bay Area has a host of events honoring the festival observed by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and Buddhists.

Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a five-day event, with particular celebrations on the third day. As Urmila Ramakrishnan wrote for KQED in 2020, the holiday is a “celebration of light over darkness, unity over conflict.”

As of this week, California is the third state in the nation to officially recognize Diwali as a state holiday. The bill, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, allows community colleges and public schools to close for the holiday. State employees may also take paid time off. Diwali is described in the bill as “the 15th day of the month of Kartik in the Hindu lunar calendar of each year.”

Jump straight to Diwali events in:

The Bay Area is home to some of the largest Hindu populations in the country, and the San Francisco-Oakland-Berkeley metro area has the third-highest number of Hindu congregations in the nation, according to 2020 data from the U.S. Religion Census.

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But Diwali is also celebrated by a diverse range of people and cultures. (If you’re looking for ways to wish someone a happy Diwali this year, you’ll find helpful guidance online for Diwali greetings in different languages – but remember, “Happy Diwali!” works too.)

Ramakrishnan herself wrote that she blended “both Bengali and Tamilian traditions” in her Diwali observations. “I grew up oscillating between my mother’s Bengali traditions of Kali Puja and lighting the kuthu vilaku oil lamp with my father,” she wrote. “The women would light tea candles around the house to welcome the goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, into the home.”

Older women at Pramod Talukdar Memorial Old Age Home light Diya oil lamps as they celebrate Diwali in Guwahati, India, on Nov. 1, 2024. Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is one of the most widely celebrated Hindu festivals, symbolizing the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. (David Talukdar/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

There’s no shortage of major Bay Area Diwali events throughout October and early November this year, including a Bhangra and Beats Night Market hosted by the City of San Francisco.

Another standout will be the Oct. 20 grand opening of Parivar Bay Area’s new office in San Francisco. Parivar, an organization that centers trans and gender-diverse immigrants, will be offering a Diwali dinner to celebrate its new space.

“This isn’t just an office,” Parivar’s social media post reads. “It’s our home of cultural pride, immigrant and asylum togetherness, and intersectional unity.”

Read more to see what other events and celebrations are happening in the region.

Bhangra and Beats brings bhangra dancing and South Asian street food to downtown San Francisco. (Courtesy of Bhangra and Beats)

2025 Diwali celebrations in San Francisco

For children and families

Rangoli, a colorful form of Indian folk art celebrating art, beauty and culture, is seen drawn on the sidewalks of Bishop Ranch City Center to celebrate the Hindu holiday Diwali in San Ramon, California, on Nov. 14, 2020. (Jessica Christian/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

2025 Diwali celebrations in East Bay

  • Multiple dates: Cooking classes in Union City. Tickets cost $97.87.
  • Friday, Oct. 17: Party at Little India Restaurant & Bar in Livermore. Early tickets cost $12.51, standard tickets are $15.00, with discounts for couples and groups.
  • Friday, Oct. 24: Diwali Night at Dante Robere Vineyards in Livermore. Tickets range from $188.58 to $209.93.
  • Sunday, Nov. 2: Dinner and dancing at Pleasanton Senior Center in Pleasanton. General admission tickets cost $12.51.
Sweets fill the counter at Milan Sweet Center, serving vegetarian Indian dishes, in Milpitas on April 27, 2022. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

For children and families

2025 Diwali celebrations in North Bay

For children and families

  • Saturday, Oct. 18: Diwali celebration at Oakbrook Academy of the Arts in Fairfield. Free.
  • Friday, Oct. 24: Diwali celebration for children at the Mill Valley Public Library. Free.
A student from a Hindu religious school lights earthen lamps in front of Mani Mandir during the celebrations to mark Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, in Varanasi on Oct. 31, 2024. (Niharika Kulkarni/AFP via Getty Images)

2025 Diwali celebrations in South Bay

  • Friday, Oct. 10: DJ Diwali party at Opal in Mountain View. General admission online costs $19.99.
  • Sunday, Oct. 12: Bollywood Dandiya dance party at Aria University in Milpitas. Early general admission tickets cost $25.31.
  • Friday, Oct. 17: Bollywood Diwali party at Myth Lounge in San José. Early tickets cost $7.18.
  • Friday, Oct. 17: Diwali game night at Next Level Board Game Cafe in Mountain View. Free.
  • Saturday, Oct. 18: DiwaliFest by Stanford students on campus. General admission tickets cost $10.
  • Sunday, Oct. 19: Singles’ Diwali at AC Hotel in San José. Tickets cost $15.
  • Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 18 and 19: Diwali brunch at Ettan in Palo Alto. The vegetarian menu is $75 per person. Non-vegetarian is $85. For children aged 5–10, the cost is $45.
  • Sunday, Oct. 26: Neon Bollywood party at Morgan Hill Community and Cultural Center in Morgan Hill. Early bird admission tickets cost $25.31.

For children and families

    • Saturday, Oct. 11: Diwali Festival at Memorial Park in Cupertino. Free.
    • Tuesday, Oct. 14: Diwali Mela at ICC Milpitas. Free.
    • Saturday, Oct. 18: Diwali celebration at Westmont High School in Campbell. Free. Tickets cost $12.51.

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