Religious celebrations are a large part of Delhi's multicultural social life, and it’s worth trying to take time out to enjoy the city's fanfare traditional dances and vibrant costumes. The city is a host to several secular festivals, when performers gather for music, dance and drama events.

Lohri
On 13th January, a rural festival, Lohri, invades the streets of Delhi and is celebrated with bonfires in parks and open spaces. Traditionally, Lohri marks the end of winter.

Kite-Flying Festival (January)
The colourful kites cascade the horizons of Delhi
on Makar Sankranti ,from the green lawns of Palika Bazaar and Connaught Place, this extravaganza attracts national as well as international participants.

Basant Panchami
The biting winter winds during the end of January-early February, brings along the Hindu festival of Basant Panchami as welcome to the spring. This is the season when the prestigious Mughal gardens behind Rashtrapati Bhavan are opened to public for a month.

Holi
On the day of the full moon is in the month of Phalguna, Delhi braces itself for a day of uninhibited reverly as Holi is celebrated with great vigour and joy. All morning people smear Gulal (coloured powder) often mixed with water on one another and dance to the beat of drums. There is a tradition in north India of consuming bhang (a derivative of cannabis) on Holi.

The night before Holi bonfires are lit at street corners, symbolically burning the demon Holika and celebrating the triumph of good over evil.

Thyagaraja Festival (February)
An enthusiastic display of south Indian music and dance,is held opposite Jawaharlal Nehru University in Vaikunthnath temple.

Maha Shivratri (March)
Maha Shivratri is celebrated on the 'Amavasya' night of 'Phalguna'. It is said , that on this dark night Lord Shiva danced the 'Tandava Nritya',( cosmic dance). He is worshipped at temples with all night vigils and prayers and unmarried women keep day-long fasts so that Shiva may grant them good husbands.

Dussehra
Dussehra or Vijay Dashmi is celebrated with great joy and festivity for 10 continuous days during the month of September or October. Dussehra celebrates Lord Ram's victory over ten-headed Ravana, the evil king of Lanka who abducted Rama's wife, Sita, and was subsequently vanquished in battle. It is also considered to be a symbol of the victory of Good over Evil.

During the ten days of celebrations, the story of Lord Ram is enacted in dances and dramas (Ramlila, the story of Rama) all over North India. On the last (tenth) day, effigies of Ravana, his brother Kumbhkaran, and his son, Meghnath, are packed with firecrackers and burnt at sunset. Large crowds gather to watch the effigies being burnt.

Durga Puja
Durga Puja is celebrated by Bengalis on the last four days of Navaratrey. Images of the mother goddess, Durga, all fiery power and exquisite beauty, are worshipped with flowers, incense of the beating of drums.

Baisakhi
At the onset of summer, when the sun gets fierce in the mid of April, north India, celebrates the Hindu New Year as Baisakhi... This is also the beginning of the harvesting season.

Rakshabandhan
On Sravana purnima Rakshabandhan is celebrated. Sisters tie rakhis on their brother's wrists as a ledge of love and receive their promise of protection and normally a gift or money.

International Mango Festival (July)
The Talkatora stadium is often a host to a peculiar event, where over five hundred different types of mango are on show, Tourists can enjoy the taste for free and view a cultural programmes .

Phoolkwalon-ki-Sair (October)
In early October, a festival specific to Mehrauli, in Delhi, takes place. This is the Phulwalon-ki-Sair or the Flower Sellers Procession, which originated in the 16th century.
The highlight is a procession of people carrying decorated floral fans, which are blessed at the shrine of the 13th century Sufi saint, Khwaja Utb-ud-din Bakhtyar Kaki and at the Hindu temple of Jogmaya, both in Mehrauli. The procession ends with a formal ceremony at the Jahaz Mahal, a 16th century pleasure resort by the side of a lake.

Janmashtami
Janmashtami is celebration of bith of Lord Krishna on the eight day of krishnapaksh (waning moon) in Sravana. Temples across the city are decorated with fairy lights and colorful exhibits on Krishna's life. Laxmi Narayan Mandir (Birla Mandir) has a special display which attracts huge crowds.

Buddha Jayanti
The first full moon night in May i.e the month of Vaisakha is celebrated as Buddha Purnima, not just to commemorates Lord Buddha's birth, but also his 'Enlightenment' and gaining 'Nirvana'. . Prayer meetings are held at Buddha Vihar, Ring Road and Buddha Vihar, Mandir Marg.

Mahavir Jayanti
The birth of Lord Mahavira, who founded Jainism, is celebrated around this time of the year with prayers and processions.

Ramnavami
Ram, the Hindu religion's most popular god, is considered to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the preserver in the Hindu pantheon. Ram Navmi celebrates the birth of Ram on this day in March - April and the event is traditionally celebrated in temples. People observe this day by fasting.

Amir Khusrau's Anniversary
Amir Khusrau's anniversary is celebrated in April, with a fair in Nizamuddin , prayers and 'qawwali' singing. The event also observed as the National Drama Festival, staged mostly at the Rabindra Bhawan.

Guru Purab
Guru Purab is the celebration of the birth of first of the ten Sikh gurus, Guru Nanak. 'Nagar Kirtans' are taken out through the streets and in the Gurdwaras, 'Granthees' recite verses from the Guru Granth Sahib, the holy book of Sikhs.

Diwali
Diwali, or Deepavali, perhaps the best-known Hindu festival, marks the end of the season that opens with Dussehra. Diwali is celebrated throughout India, as well as in Indian communities throughout the diaspora. It usually takes place eighteen days after Dusshera in October/November. Diwali is called the "festival of lights", and the name itself means an array of lamps (Deep = Lamp, Vali =Array). Indeed, illumination is characteristic of Diwali. The array of lamps are symbolic of welcoming Lord Rama back to Ayodhya after his 14 years of exile, and the common practice is to light small oil lamps, diyas, and place them around the house.

Christmas (25th December)
On 25th of December all major hotels and restaurants in the capital host special Christmas eve entertainments, while the midnight mass and other services are organized by the churches.

Id-ul-fitr is most often celebrated in this season. It marks the end of Ramzan, the month of fasting for Muslims. This day is also called Meethi Id (sweet id), because of a special sweet called sevaiyyan ( a kind of vermicelli) which is cooked on this day.

New Year's Eve (31st December)
The culmination of the Indian festive spirit is celebrated on the 31st of December, with most hotels and restaurants offering special food and entertainment packages.