Gift calendar
Every date worth sending something in 2026
19 occasions across the year, when each one falls, and what actually suits it.
10 still to come
Nearest first. The ones with a link are occasions we can already make something for.
28 August 2026 · Friday
India
Raksha Bandhan
Shravana Purnima. The rakhi is tied during the muhurat — 5:57 AM to 9:50 AM this year — so anything you send should land before it.
What to send for raksha bandhan5 September 2026 · Saturday
India
Teachers' Day
Dr Radhakrishnan's birthday. Teachers get forty near-identical messages; the ones they keep name the year and the subject.
What to send for teacher's day5 October 2026 · Monday
Global
World Teachers' Day
The international one, a month after India's. Useful if you're writing to a teacher who taught you somewhere else.
What to send for teacher's day11 October 2026 · Sunday
India
Navratri begins
Nine nights, and the start of the run that carries through Dussehra to Diwali. Not a gifting day itself — it's when families start working out who is travelling.
20 October 2026 · Tuesday
India
Dussehra
Vijayadashami, closing Navratri. Traditionally the day to begin something new, which makes it a natural moment to send something rather than wait for Diwali.
29 October 2026 · Thursday
India
Karva Chauth
Kartik Chaturthi, and a fast broken at moonrise — so the evening is spoken for. Send in the morning, before the day starts.
What to send for love letter8 November 2026 · Sunday
India
Diwali
Dhanteras opens the run two days earlier, on 6 November. Messages sent on the day itself arrive into a queue of two hundred forwards.
14 November 2026 · Saturday
India
Children's Day
Nehru's birthday. The only occasion on this list where the sillier gift is the correct one.
25 December 2026 · Friday
Global
Christmas Day
The day itself is busy. What travels well is something for the family who couldn't get home, sent on Christmas Eve.
1 January 2027 · Friday
Global
New Year's Day 2027
Close enough to plan for: a letter about the year, written while you can still remember any of it.
Already been and gone
Still here for reference — and for anyone already looking at next year.
1 January 2026
New Year's Day
14 February 2026
Valentine's Day
4 March 2026
Holi
8 March 2026
International Women's Day
5 April 2026
Easter Sunday
10 May 2026
Mother's Day
21 June 2026
Father's Day
2 August 2026
Friendship Day
15 August 2026
Independence Day
Which of these move, and why
Half this list is on a different calendar from the one on your wall, which is why the dates are worth checking rather than remembering.
Same date every year. Christmas, Independence Day, Teachers' Day, Children's Day, Valentine's Day. Diary them once.
Moves, but to a fixed rule. Mother's Day is the second Sunday of May, Father's Day the third Sunday of June, Friendship Day in India the first Sunday of August. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon following the March equinox, which is why it wanders by a month.
Moves with the lunar calendar. Raksha Bandhan, Navratri, Dussehra, Karva Chauth, Diwali and Holi fall on a tithi — a lunar day — rather than a fixed date, and the lunar and Gregorian calendars drift against each other. That is why Diwali can be October one year and November the next, and why these can shift by a day between regions. If travel depends on one, check it against a panchang set to your own city.
Questions
When is Raksha Bandhan 2026?
When is Diwali 2026?
When is Karva Chauth 2026?
Why do the Indian festivals change date every year?
Can I schedule a gift to send on a particular date?
While you're planning
- Gifts by who they're for — when you know the person before you know the date.
- Birthday countdown — the dates this calendar can't know, because they're yours.
- Every design — what the gift itself actually does when they open it.