Diwali 2026 Food: What People Eat and Where to Celebrate

Diwali runs 6 November to 10 November 2026. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, kept over five days with lamps, rangoli and fireworks. Food is a major focus, with family feasts and boxes of sweets shared with visitors and given as gifts.

Source: Diwali.

Also known as Deepavali, Festival of Lights, Tihar, Bandi Chhor Divas.

What people eat for Diwali

Mithai (festive sweets)

India

Sweets made from flour, semolina, rice, chickpea flour, nuts, milk solids and ghee, shaped as laddus, barfis, halwa and more. Naraka Chaturdashi, the day before the main night, is a big day for buying them, and shops sell them in large quantities as gifts.

Source: Diwali.

Barfi

North India

A milk-based sweet with a fudge-like consistency, especially popular in North India and often served at Diwali and Holi.

Source: Barfi.

Gulab jamun

Indian subcontinent

A milk-solid sweet made with khoa, saffron, maida and sugar, generally served hot. It is eaten at weddings, Eid and Ganesh Chaturthi as well as Diwali.

Source: Gulab jamun.

Shankarpali

Maharashtra

A sweet snack of sugar, ghee or butter, maida flour and semolina dough, fried into crisp pieces. It is traditionally eaten at Diwali and can be sweet, sour or spicy.

Source: Shankarpali.

Murukku

South India

A South Indian snack made with rice and black gram flour for Diwali. In Indonesia, murukku and chakli variations are known as akar kelapa.

Source: Chakli.

Soan papdi

A flaky, cube-shaped dessert made of gram flour, all-purpose flour, ghee, sugar and milk, frequently given as a Diwali gift.

Source: Soan papdi.

Annakut (mountain of food)

India

Many Hindu communities mark Annakut by preparing over a hundred dishes and offering them to Krishna before sharing them, and temples set out mountains of sweets for worshippers.

Source: Diwali.