Diwali Lights! 2026 at Asia Society Texas

Asia Society Texas is doing Diwali on Sunday, October 18, 2026, from 2 to 6 p.m. at 1370 Southmore Boulevard.

Festival entry is free if you register. The two Ramayana performances, 3 to 3:45 and 4:30 to 5:15 p.m., are $15. That is the one ticket you should decide on before you arrive. The rest of the afternoon is hands-on: diya painting, rangoli, henna, carrom, a photobooth, Ramayana finger puppets, and Bollywood workshops.

Tx2 Dance Company, the Houston studio that also helps run HTX Diwali at POST the following Saturday, leads a come-and-go Bollywood stage upstairs and a dance-along. The listing puts dancers from age 5 to 50. It is a family building on a Sunday afternoon.

The center opened in 2012 in Yoshio Taniguchi's Museum District building, his only freestanding U.S. work. Same address as JLF Houston on October 3 and Night Market on November 6. The lot is across Southmore, entered from Caroline or Austin, listed at $7. Museum District METRORail is about a five-minute walk. Come early. Southmore is not a drop-off curb.

Houston's bigger outdoor Diwali is still Levy Park on November 14, the free 5 to 10 p.m. Masala Radio night with fireworks in recent years. Asia Society is earlier, shorter, and quieter. Use it if you want crafts and a seated Ramayana more than a park field.

Actual Diwali night is Sunday, November 8 this year. ISKCON on 34th Street has the candlelight aarti that evening. BAPS in Stafford will post its own hours. This page is the public festival, not a substitute for either temple.

Our take: register for the free festival even if you skip the $15 play. Four hours is enough for kids. If you want the late lights and food stalls, save Levy Park or the POST rooftop.

When: October 18, 2026, 2–6 p.m.
Where: Asia Society Texas Center, 1370 Southmore Blvd, Houston, TX 77004