Mumbai

• Mumbai Festival · Jan 1 – Jan 28 · festival

  Mumbai Festival: a sprawling January showcase of the city's best — theatre, sport, fashion, food and shopping all under one civic banner.

• Republic Day · Jan 22-28 · holiday

  January 26 parades and a school holiday; the south Mumbai marine drive quieter than usual.

• Kala Ghoda Arts Festival · Feb 5 – Feb 18 · festival

  Two-week arts festival in the colonial precinct - street installations, jazz nights, the city's design crowd out in force.

• Ramadan · Feb 12 – Feb 18 · religious

  The month of daytime fasting - quieter daylight hours, then streets and tables come alive after sunset for iftar.

• Holi · Feb 26 – Feb 18 · religious

  Coloured-powder revelry in the streets - exhilarating in the right neighbourhood, exhausting otherwise.

• Eid al-Fitr (variable) · Mar 19 – Apr 1 · religious

  Mohammed Ali Road's iftar food markets pull crowds across the city for the preceding month.

• Easter · Apr 2-8 · religious

  Holy Week into Easter - processions and quiet reflection give way to a celebratory weekend.

• Eid al-Adha · May 21 – Jun 3 · religious

  The festival of sacrifice - a major public holiday of communal prayers and shared feasts.

• Southwest monsoon · Jun 11 – Jun 12 · holiday

  Sustained heavy rain for three months - flooded streets, suburban trains halted, beaches closed; magical for some, paralysing for others.

• Independence Day · Aug 13-19 · holiday

  August 15 - flag-hoisting at every school and society, kite-flying on rooftops.

• Ganesh Chaturthi · Aug 27 – Aug 16 · religious

  Mumbai's biggest festival - ten days of decorated idols, processions to Chowpatty for the sea immersion. Unforgettable, exhausting.

• Navratri & Dussehra · Oct 1 – Oct 14 · religious

  Nine nights of garba dancing - Gujarati communities hosting open-to-all events across the suburbs.

• Mumbai Film Festival (MAMI) · Oct 22-28 · festival

  International cinema at venues across the city for a week - the Bollywood crowd in attendance.

• Diwali · Oct 29 – Oct 11 · religious

  Festival of lights - the city glows, sweets travel between neighbours, trains and flights book out for a week.

• Christmas in Bandra · Dec 24-31 · religious

  Bandra's Catholic neighbourhoods string lights and host carol services - a quieter, joyful Mumbai Christmas.

a reason to go mixed worth knowing about