A festival marketing calendar for Indian businesses

Check the dates every single year

Many Indian festivals follow lunar or lunisolar calendars, so their dates on the regular calendar change each year. Eid falls roughly eleven days earlier each year and depends on the moon being sighted. Diwali, Holi, Navratri and Raksha Bandhan move within a season. Some festivals are also marked on different days in different states.

So never copy last year's calendar. Confirm dates from an official holiday list, a reliable panchang, or your local religious community, and note when your own shop or office will be closed.

Think in seasons, then fix the days

• Winter harvest, around January: Lohri in Punjab, Makar Sankranti in many states, Pongal in Tamil Nadu, Bhogali Bihu in Assam. Republic Day falls in January too.
• Spring: Holi, then the spring new years and harvests such as Vaisakhi, Vishu, Puthandu and Pohela Boishakh.
• Monsoon and late summer: Independence Day in August, Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami, Onam in Kerala and Ganesh Chaturthi, especially in Maharashtra.
• Autumn: Navratri, Durga Puja in Bengal, Dussehra, then Karva Chauth, Dhanteras, Diwali, Bhai Dooj and Chhath.
• Late year: Guru Nanak Gurpurab, Christmas and New Year, with the wedding season running through the cooler months.
• Through the year: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha move across seasons, so place them only once that year's dates are known.

Match the occasion to what you sell

Not every festival suits every business. A jeweller naturally plans for Dhanteras, Akshaya Tritiya and the wedding season. A sweet shop prepares for Diwali, Raksha Bandhan and Eid orders. Clothing stores focus on Navratri, Durga Puja, Eid and weddings. Electronics and home goods shops plan around Diwali. A salon sees demand before Karva Chauth, Eid and weddings. A gym may do better with New Year than with any festival.

A greeting with no offer is perfectly fine. A thoughtful message on a day that matters to your customers builds more goodwill than a forced discount.

Respect comes first

• Do not put images of deities or holy symbols on discount graphics or anything people will throw away.
• Know which days are solemn. Muharram, observed by many as a time of mourning, and Good Friday are not celebrations, so do not wish anyone a happy one.
• Spell festival names correctly and use the greeting your customers actually use.
• If you greet one community, consider whether you greet others your customers belong to, or choose to post only for occasions linked to your trade.
• Avoid claims about blessings, luck or religious benefits from buying a product.

A simple timeline for each big festival

• Three to four weeks before: confirm the date, decide whether to run an offer, order stock, plan photos.
• One to two weeks before: teaser posts, gift ideas or booking reminders, and update holiday hours on your Google Business Profile.
• On the day: a short, warm greeting. Keep selling light.
• Afterwards: thank customers, share photos only with permission, and note what worked for next year.

How AI Marketing Master handles occasions

When the AI plans your month, it suggests occasions from a checked list for your country, and you can exclude any of them. The list only holds days whose dates can be checked, such as national days. Festivals that move with the moon are not guessed; they appear only after their date for that year has been confirmed. The planner also does not suggest religious posts on its own unless your business is religious.

So for festivals, you stay in charge: add the posts you want on the dates you have confirmed, or ask Milo to draft them. Any festival offer must be in your approved claims, and each post still passes quality checks and your approval.