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20 Major Festivals and Events in India in February 2020

India has a multitude of culture and beauty. Thanks to its secularity, the land holds numerous ethnic communities living hand-in-hand. This diversity increases the beauty of the land and brings forward an enormous number of festivals and celebrations. No month in the calendar is dry of festivals in India. Are you visiting India in February?

Here is the list of top festivals and fairs to enjoy in India in February 2020.

1. Surajkund International Crafts Mela

Date: 1st to 17th February 2020

Destination: Surajkund of Faridabad

The Surajkund international crafts mela focuses on showcasing international and local crafts and art masterpieces. This festival takes place during the first fortnight of the month. Tourists walk around the large exhibition, where they can find interesting exhibits like handicrafts, handloom, masterpieces, souvenir items, and others. Apart from the exhibition, there is a large open-air theater, where you can find many performances, food stalls, amusement rides, and others. If you wish to enjoy the culture and shopping of India, this is one of the colorful and interesting festivals to take part in.

2. Kala Ghoda Arts Festival

Date: 1st to 9th February 2020

Destination: Mumbai of Maharashtra

The Kala Ghoda art festival is yet another art festival to enjoy in India. This festival focuses on exhibiting the art, craft, and culture of the land. Apart from exhibition and shopping mela, you can find a large fairground filled with music performances, food stalls, and other performance arts. This multi-cultural festival attracts tourists from around the world. For children, you can find many interesting entertainment activities like puppet shows, coloring competition, sing-along stage, and others.

3. Matho Nagrang Festival

Date: 1st February to 1st March 2020

Destination: Matho Monastery of Leh

The Matho Nagrang Festival is a famous Buddhist festival held in the Matho monastery. This festival is famous for the ritual, which triggers spirits to predict the future. According to the local culture, two monks take part in a long meditation and ritual in secrecy for two months. During this ritual, spirits enter these monks bodies. During the festival, the mons provide predictions and prophecies to the public. Apart from this, the festival is famous for its lively tradition, dance, music, and others. This festival also marks the end of the winter season. This festival takes place in a cold desert region, which experiences a slow melting of snow during the time of this festival.

4. Adoor Gajamela

Date: 4th – 13th February 2020

Destination: Sree Parthasarathy Temple of Kerala

The term ‘Gajamela’ means the fiesta of elephants. As the festival’s name indicates that this festival focuses on the elephants. This festival is the annual celebration of Sree Parthasarathy temple. The iconic celebration is the parade of elephant, during with nine elephants are ornamentally decorated and taken on a long procession with royal music, dance, and other celebration. Once the parade crowd reaches the temple, the rituals start. The area around the temple holds numerous stalls, where you can buy souvenirs and religious items. After the rituals, local artisans conduct many folk performances inside the temple.

5. Udaipur World Music Festival

Date: 7th – 9th February 2020

Destination: Udaipur of Rajasthan

This festival is Udaipur’s cultural celebration, which brings more than 150 performances from around the country together. This festival celebrates the musical art of the land. You can enjoy music performances, musical instruments, and other performances. You can find numerous styles of music artists from traditional Carnatic music to the funky bank. The morning performances focus on the romantic genre. Afternoon sessions cover soothing melodies. The evening is the time when you can find a large crowd as it is the time for the electric band, fusion music, and other modern genres. You can also enjoy many musical instruments play from traditional Indian instruments to modern electronic instruments.

It is the most famous festival of Udaipur, take the Palace on Wheels Rajasthan that can help you to reach the destination.

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6. Alwar Festival

Date: 7th – 9th February 2020

Destination: Alwar of Rajasthan

Alwar Festival is one of the grandest fiestas of the land. This festival focuses on exhibiting the cultural beauty of the land. The events of this festival include competition for children, fancy dress competitions, elephant polo games, film screening shows, flower shows, and others. Apart from these competitions and exhibits, the festival ground holds a large fair, where you can buy souvenirs of all kinds. This festival brings artisans and performers from around the state together. If you wish to enjoy a colorful, cultural vacation, this is one of the grandest festivals to take part in February in Rajasthan.

7. Jaisalmer Desert Festival

Date: 7th – 9thFebruary 2020

Destination: Jaisalmer of Rajasthan

The Jaisalmer Desert Festival is what the name indicates, literally. This festival takes place in the Jaisalmer desert region. The main aim of this celebration is to enjoy the unique culture of the land and to appreciate the natural beauty of the desert landscape. This festival takes place in the dunes, overlooking the famous Golden Jaisalmer Fort. You can find many performances like camel race, folk dance, folk music, acrobat performances, Mr. Desert competition, turban tying competition, mustache competition, and others. The camel parade is the most iconic element of this festival. Kids will love puppet shows, juggler showers, and others. A large fair takes place, where you can buy souvenirs like camel leather articles, delicacies made with camel milk, artwork, spices, and others.

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8. Thaipooyam Mahotsavam

Date: 8th February 2020

Destination: Numerous Lord Murugan temples, especially, Sree Subrahmanya Swamy temple of Kerala

The term ‘Thai’ is the local lunar month, which starts on Jan 15th and ends on Feb 14th. This festival is an auspicious day in the month of Thai. Lord Murugan is the main deity of this celebration. This Hindu fiesta focuses on religious rituals and lance piercing. Many devotees take part in a procession towards the temple after piercing with a small lance in their tongue or cheek. Devotees also take part in lively dance and vibrant music.

Occasionally, you can find devotees in trance dance too. Some pilgrims walk with an arched ornament on their shoulders (kavadi), and bystanders welcome them by shouting ‘Haro Hara.’ Many important rituals take part in the temple. The region around the temple is where the shopping takes place. The temple also conducts many cultural performances like dance, music, drama, instrumental performance, and others.

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9. Mahindra Blues Festival

Date: 9th – 11th February 2020

Destination: Bandra of Mumbai

Mahindra Blues Festival is one of the expensive music celebrations in the country. The entry ticket to this festival can cost up to INR 4,000. However, the international class of this festival makes it worth every penny you spend. Many important icons of music like Blues Machine, Janiva Magness, Eric Gales, and others take part in this festival. Youth flock this festival, as it is one of the very few international class music festivals in the country. Tourists from around the world visit India to take part in this festival.

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10. World Sufi Festival

Date: 11th – 15th February 2020

Destination: Nagaur and Jodhpur of Rajasthan

The World Sufi Festival takes place in two parts. The first phase of the festival takes place in the Nagaur Fort, located in Nagaur of Rajasthan. The Nagaur Fort will look grand with more than five thousand oil lamps illuminating it. The festival focuses on showcasing art forms of land like art, poetry, dance, music, film, fashion, and others. The main element of this festival is the Sufi religion. You can take part in religious seminars, workshops, dramas, shows, and others related to Sufi religion. The second phase of this festival takes place in Mehrangarh Fort of Jodhpur, where music and other cultural elements are the highlights. Both the phases of this festival attracts tourists from around the country to relish in the cultural fiesta.

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11. Heritage Festival of Shekhawati

Date: 12th – 15thFebruary 2020

Destination: Shekhawati of Rajasthan

Shekhawati is an ancient cultural destination of Rajasthan. This region is famous among tourists who love to take a weekend getaway to a serene destination. This cultural festival of Shekhawati focuses on their heritage and culture. You can find numerous attractions like rural games, cattle fair (usually, the camels), stalls for shopping, exhibitions, workshops, and others. Every night, the fairground conducts fireworks, which illuminates the sky. The food court in this ground is famous for providing all the important traditional delicacies of the land. The cream of celebration takes place in the Nawalgarh region. You can find similar celebrations and activities in other important areas like Churu, Jhunjhunu, Dikar, and others.

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12. Elephanta Festival

Date: 13th – 15th February 2020

Destination: Elephanta Caves of Mumbai (in the past); India Gate of Mumbai (now)

The festival gets its name from the venue, the Elephanta Island of Mumbai. Due to the increase in audience population, the festival has a new venue now, ground in front of India Gate. The religious element of this festival takes place in the Shiva Temple of Elephanta Island. Later, the crowd shifts to the festive ground near India Gate to enjoy drama, dance, music, and other performances. The iconic performance of this festival takes place by the fishermen of the land. This festival is a heritage celebration, which focuses on the fading arts of the land.

13. Taj Mahotsav

Date: 18th – 27th February 2020

Destination: Taj Mahal of Agra

Taj Mahotsav festival takes place near the Taj Mahal’s eastern gate. This ten-day festival takes place as a reminder of the glorious tradition and culture of the land. The festival celebrates art, culture, crafts, music, dance, and other elements of the local lifestyle. Many eminent performers provide dance and music performances during this festival. Stand-up comedy, skit, drama, and other stage performances take place during the fiesta. You can also find many film celebrities performing during the festival. Apart from these, the festival conducts a large fair with numerous stalls, where you can buy souvenirs, religious items, expensive silver articles, cuisine, artworks, and others.

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14. Konark Dance Festival

Date: 19th – 23rdFebruary 2020

Destination: Konark Temple Complex of Odisha

Konark Dance Festival is a local celebration of dance, celebrated to encourage the dance forms of the land. This five-day fiesta attracts tourists from around the country. The festival also gives equal importance to music and other art forms of the land. The Chandrabhaga beach region conducts a sand art exhibition during this festival. Apart from art performances, the temple grounds hold a large fair, where you can buy unique souvenirs and interesting items. This festival also marks the end of the winter and the beginning of the sun’s movement towards the north.

15. Natyanjali Dance Festival

Date: 21st – 28thFebruary 2020

Destination: Nataraja Temple of Chidambaram

The lord Nataraja (Lord Shiva) is the God of Dance in South India. During this week-long festival, many Nataraja temples around the country conduct dance festivals. However, the best of all takes place in the Chidambaram Nataraja Temple. This dance festival is a part of this temple’s culture since 1981. You can enjoy numerous dance performances of various forms and genres, especially Bharatanatyam. Other regions where similar dance festivals take place during this season are Thirunallar, Kumbakonam, Thanjavur, Chennai, Thiruvanaikoil, Nagapattinam, Mayavaram, and other destinations.

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16. Maha Shivratri

Date: 21st February 2020

Destination: Shiva temples around the country

The MahaShivratri is the sleepless night dedicated to Lord Shiva. This festival focuses on unique rituals conducted throughout the night, at equal intervals. Devotees stay back in the Shiva temples to take part in these periodic rituals. In the meantime, many cultural and religious celebrations and performances take place to keep the devotees motivated and awake. You can find dance, music, drama, music instrument, storytelling, puppet shows, and other performances in many temples. Some of the temples conduct rural board games and other competitions to spend time. Top destinations to visit to enjoy an exclusive celebration are Varanasi, Ujjain, Srisailam, Guwahati, Haridwar, Khajuraho, and others. Varanasi’s Mahashivratri is famous for a special drink, served to the devotees. This drink contains trace amounts of Cannabis in it, and during this night, it is legal in India.

17. Goa Carnival

Date: 22nd – 25th February 2020

Destination: Goa

The Goa Carnival is famous for its iconic Red and Black Ball, King Momo crowning, and the famous procession of fun. Dance and music performances are other highlights of this festival. This festival can be related to Mardi Gras of the western world. The grand procession covers all major streets in Panjim. Thousands of tourists and locals take part in this procession. Booze and meat cuisine flood the stalls. The next day of Goa Carnival is the beginning of Lent, during which people avoid consuming alcohol, meat, and other comfort foods. Thus, during this festival, people satisfy their needs for comfort food.

18. Losar Festival

Date: 24th – 26th February 2020

Destination: Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, Ladakh, and others

The Losar Festival is the Tibetan New Year. Indians celebrate it as Buddhist New Year. Every monastery in the country celebrates this festival with dance, music, ritual, exhibition, feast, and others. The emblematic celebration of the is festival is the masked monk dance, which narrates a story via dance. Each mask expresses a character, and the dance moves explain the story. Some monasteries display their sacred scrolls. Tourists flock to see the scroll as they believe it to bring fertility and happiness to those who witness it.

19. Date: 25th February – 3rd March 2020

Destination: Khajuraho of Madhya Pradesh

February has numerous dance festivals in its calendar. Khajuraho Dance Festival is one of the famous celebrations in the country. Numerous international and local dancers take part in this celebration. This dazzling celebration takes place inside the Khajuraho group of monuments. During this celebration, dancers perform all major dance forms of the country like Bharatanatyam, Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Dhandiya, and others. Some performers conduct dance-cum-story performances, during which mythological stories and dance go hand-in-hand. This style of dance narrates interesting stories like Krishna Raas Leela, Shiva Tandavam, and others.

20. Nagaur Cattle Fair

Date: 30th Jan 2019 – 2nd February 2020

Destination: Nagaur of Rajasthan

The Nagaur cattle fair is the second-largest camel fair in India, right next to Pushkar camel fair. This annual fair takes part as a camel trading event. Today, the fair is also open for other animal tradings like bullocks, cows, horses, donkeys, and others. To boost trading, the owners conduct many animal competitions like a beauty contest, race, tug-of-war, parade, and others. The animals which won get a higher price tag while selling during auction or bargaining. Apart from these, you can find dance and music performances, puppet shows, acrobat performances, stalls for shopping, food stall, and others. Some tourists stay back in the ground overnight to camp and enjoy.

Are you planning to visit any of these festivals in February? February is one of the peak tourism seasons in India. Also, during these festivals, the demand for transportation, accommodation, and other services will be high. Thus, pre-book all necessities. While attending these festivals, remember to respect their culture and traditions, even if you find it weird.

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The post 20 Major Festivals and Events in India in February 2020 appeared first on The Palace on Wheels Blog.



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