Festivals & holidays calendar

Uzbekistan celebrates all year round. Some dates are fixed, others follow the lunar calendar or are announced by organisers a few weeks ahead — we mark those with ≈ and update them as soon as they are confirmed. Tell us which event you want to see and we will build the route around it.

1. February

   2027

   

   Religious holiday

   ≈February 8 – March 9, 2027Across Uzbekistan

   Lunar calendar: start expected 7–8 February 2027

   Ramadan

   The month of fasting: quieter days, festive iftar evenings and open tables in the mahallas.

   Read more

   During Ramadan many Uzbeks fast from dawn to dusk. Sights, museums and restaurants stay open for visitors, but evenings change character: families gather for iftar, chaikhanas fill up after sunset and some mosques serve communal meals.

   It is a calm, hospitable time to travel — dress a little more modestly, avoid eating in front of fasting people in traditional neighbourhoods, and accept an invitation to iftar if one comes your way.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750

   Ask about these dates

2. March

   2027

   

   Religious holiday

   ≈March 9 – 10, 2027Across Uzbekistan

   Lunar calendar: expected 9 March 2027, confirmed after the moon sighting

   Ramazon Hayit (Eid al-Fitr)

   The end of Ramadan: a public holiday of morning prayers, family visits and sweets on every table.

   Read more

   Ramazon Hayit closes the month of fasting. Mornings begin with prayers at the great mosques — the courtyards of Bibi-Khanym in Samarkand or Kalyan in Bukhara fill with worshippers — then families visit relatives and neighbours with plates of halva, chak-chak and fresh bread.

   It is a public holiday: banks and offices close, while sights and bazaars usually work. Expect busy roads and trains around the holiday.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

   

   Public holiday

   March 21, 2027Every yearAcross Uzbekistan — biggest celebrations in Samarkand and Tashkent

   Public holidays usually 20–22 March

   Navruz

   The Persian New Year and the spring equinox: sumalak cooked overnight, music in every park, the warmest welcome of the year.

   Read more

   Navruz is the most beloved holiday in Central Asia. Women gather to stir sumalak — a sweet paste of sprouted wheat — in huge cauldrons through the night, families cook plov and halim, and parks and squares fill with folk music, kurash wrestling and dancing.

   The official holiday is 21 March, but festivities run through the week around it. Hotels in Samarkand and Bukhara book up early — plan two to three months ahead.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

3. April

   2027

   

   Music

   ≈April 5 – 10, 2027Termez, Surkhandarya

   Biennial; 2027 dates and host city to be confirmed by the organisers

   International Bakhshi Art Festival

   Epic storytellers of Central Asia — bakhshi singing for hours to the dombra — gather in Termez.

   Read more

   Bakhshi are bards who perform epic poems such as Alpamysh from memory, accompanied by the dombra and a distinctive throat-singing technique. The festival, held every two years, brings performers from Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan and beyond.

   Combine it with Termez’s Buddhist sites — Fayaz Tepe and Kara Tepe — and the Sultan Saodat ensemble.

   Tours that match

   We will build a private journey around this event.

   Ask about these dates

   

   Dance

   ≈April 15 – 18, 2027Khiva, Ichan-Kala

   Held in spring; organisers announce exact dates a few weeks ahead

   Lazgi International Dance Festival

   Khorezm’s fiery Lazgi dance — on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list — performed by troupes from around the world inside Khiva’s walls.

   Read more

   Lazgi is the signature dance of Khorezm: it starts with slow, trembling movements of the hands and builds to an ecstatic finale. In 2019 it was inscribed on UNESCO’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage.

   The international festival brings dance companies to Ichan-Kala for stage shows, street parades and masterclasses. Evenings under the walls of the Kunya-Ark are unforgettable.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815
   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750

   Ask about these dates

4. May

   2027

   

   Folk festival

   ≈May 1 – 7, 2027Boysun, Surkhandarya mountains

   Usually in May; the festival is not held every year — check before booking

   Boysun Bahori

   A spring folk festival in a mountain town whose culture UNESCO calls a masterpiece: costumes, epic songs, horse games.

   Read more

   The Cultural Space of Boysun was among the first entries on UNESCO’s intangible heritage list. Its spring festival, Boysun Bahori, gathers villages from the district for folk theatre, bakhshi singing, wedding rituals, crafts fairs, kurash wrestling and kupkari horse games.

   Boysun is a three-hour drive from Termez through the Surkhandarya mountains — we arrange transport, homestays and a local guide.

   Tours that match

   We will build a private journey around this event.

   Ask about these dates

   

   Religious holiday

   ≈May 16 – 17, 2027Across Uzbekistan

   Lunar calendar: expected 16 May 2027, confirmed after the moon sighting

   Qurbon Hayit (Eid al-Adha)

   The Feast of Sacrifice: a public holiday of prayers, shared meals and generosity to neighbours.

   Read more

   Qurbon Hayit is the second great holiday of the Islamic year. After morning prayers families share a festive meal, give meat to neighbours and those in need and visit the graves of relatives.

   It is a public holiday in Uzbekistan. Sights generally stay open; plan train tickets early as many people travel home.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

   

   Crafts

   ≈May 28 – 30, 2027Bukhara, Lyabi-Hauz and the trading domes

   Late May or early June; 2027 dates to be announced (2025: 6–8 June)

   Silk & Spices Festival

   Bukhara’s old town turns into a Silk Road bazaar: silk, suzani, spices, puppet shows, dancing and tightrope walkers.

   Read more

   For more than twenty years Bukhara has celebrated its merchant past with the Silk & Spices Festival. Artisans from across Uzbekistan set up in the trading domes and around Lyabi-Hauz: silk weavers, suzani embroiderers, goldsmiths and spice sellers. There are fashion shows in ikat, folk ensembles, dorboz tightrope walkers and a parade through the old town.

   It is the best weekend of the year to buy crafts directly from the makers.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

5. August

   2027

   

   Food & harvest

   ≈August 14 – 15, 2027Khorezm and Khiva

   Mid-August, depending on the harvest; dates set locally

   Melon Festival

   Khorezm’s famous melons — dozens of varieties — piled high at the peak of harvest, with tastings, music and contests.

   Read more

   Uzbekistan grows more than a hundred varieties of melon, and those from Khorezm are legendary — they were once sent in lead-lined boxes to the caliphs of Baghdad. In mid-August local farms and bazaars celebrate the harvest with tastings, contests for the biggest melon, folk music and dancing.

   August is hot in Khiva: we plan sightseeing for the morning and evening.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815
   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750

   Ask about these dates

6. September

   2027

   

   Public holiday

   September 1, 2027Every yearTashkent and every city

   Independence Day

   Uzbekistan’s national day: concerts, fireworks and illuminated squares across the country.

   Read more

   On 1 September Uzbekistan celebrates its independence, declared in 1991. Tashkent hosts the main concert and fireworks, and every city decorates its squares and parks; the days around it are festive and lively.

   It is a public holiday, so offices close and domestic travel is busy — book trains and hotels in advance.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750

   Ask about these dates

   

   Contemporary art

   September 3 – November 21, 2027Bukhara old town — caravanserais, madrasas and public spaces

   Announced by the organisers: 3 September – 21 November 2027

   Bukhara Biennial

   The second edition of Central Asia’s boldest contemporary-art event, staged inside restored historic buildings.

   Read more

   The first Bukhara Biennial in 2025 filled restored caravanserais and madrasas with works made by international artists together with Bukhara’s craftspeople. The second edition, led by artistic director Kulapat Yantrasast, runs for almost three months in autumn 2027 and expands to new historic sites across the city.

   Autumn is also the best season in Bukhara: warm days, cool evenings and the harvest in the bazaars.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

   

   Crafts

   ≈September 10 – 12, 2027Margilan, Fergana Valley

   Usually in early autumn; organisers confirm dates in summer

   Atlas Bayrami — Silk Festival

   Margilan, the silk capital of Uzbekistan, celebrates hand-woven atlas and adras with fashion shows and open workshops.

   Read more

   Margilan has woven silk for more than a thousand years. During the atlas festival the Yodgorlik silk factory and family workshops open their doors: you can watch the whole process from cocoons to ikat dyeing and weaving, meet designers using traditional fabrics and buy directly from the weavers.

   We combine it with Rishtan ceramics and Kokand’s palace in a Fergana Valley route.

   Tours that match

   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750
   • Silk, Clay and Steel: The Makers of Fergana5 daysfrom $780

   Ask about these dates

   

   Crafts

   ≈September 14 – 18, 2027Kokand, Fergana Valley

   Biennial, usually in September; 2027 dates to be confirmed

   International Handicrafters Festival

   Hundreds of master artisans from dozens of countries in Kokand — named a World Craft City.

   Read more

   Kokand, recognised by the World Crafts Council as a World Craft City, hosts an international festival of artisans every two years: woodcarvers, potters, blacksmiths, embroiderers and knife-makers demonstrate their work, run masterclasses and sell in a huge fair around the Khudoyar Khan palace.

   A treat for anyone who loves craft — and an easy addition to a Fergana Valley tour.

   Tours that match

   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750
   • Silk, Clay and Steel: The Makers of Fergana5 daysfrom $780

   Ask about these dates

   

   Film

   ≈September 25 – October 1, 2027Tashkent

   Usually late September – early October; dates announced by the organisers

   Tashkent International Film Festival

   “Pearl of the Silk Road”: a week of premieres, retrospectives and red carpets in the capital.

   Read more

   Revived in 2021, the Tashkent International Film Festival — “Pearl of the Silk Road” — shows films from Central Asia and around the world, with guest stars, open-air screenings and masterclasses. Many screenings are open to the public.

   Tashkent in early autumn is at its best: warm, green and full of cafés.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750

   Ask about these dates

7. October

   2027

   

   Food & harvest

   ≈October 10 – 31, 2027Fergana Valley, Surkhandarya and village bazaars

   Local fairs through October; no single fixed date

   Pomegranate & Harvest Fairs

   October is harvest month: pomegranates, grapes, quinces and walnuts piled high in the bazaars, with village fairs and tastings.

   Read more

   Autumn bazaars in Uzbekistan are a feast — pomegranates from Surkhandarya and the Fergana Valley, late grapes, persimmons, quinces and dried fruit. Villages and districts hold harvest fairs with tastings, plov cooked for the whole community and folk music.

   There is no single national date: we time your route so you hit the bazaars at their most colourful.

   Tours that match

   • Twelve Gates of the Silk Road12 daysfrom $1,750
   • Silk, Clay and Steel: The Makers of Fergana5 daysfrom $780

   Ask about these dates

8. August

   2028

   

   Music

   ≈August 25 – 30, 2028Samarkand, Registan Square

   Biennial — next edition expected in late August 2028

   Sharq Taronalari — Melodies of the East

   Central Asia’s great world-music festival, held under UNESCO patronage on the Registan every two years.

   Read more

   Since 1997 Sharq Taronalari has brought traditional musicians from dozens of countries to perform on a stage set against the madrasas of the Registan. The competition and evening concerts are among the most atmospheric events in the Silk Road calendar.

   The festival is biennial and has been held in even years (most recently 2024); the next edition is expected in late August 2028. If you travel in 2027, ask us about other summer concerts in Samarkand.

   Tours that match

   • Four Crowns: Tashkent, Samarkand, Bukhara, Khiva8 daysfrom $1,270
   • Six Days, Seven Plovs6 daysfrom $995
   • Silk Road in Silk: Private Uzbekistan10 daysfrom $1,815

   Ask about these dates

Dates are checked against official announcements; lunar holidays and some festivals can shift by a few days. We confirm exact dates before you book.