Diwali Festival of Lights 2026 at Cedar Lane UU in Bethesda

Cedar Lane Unitarian Universalist Congregation and Hindus for Human Rights are listing a Diwali Festival of Lights for Sunday, November 15, 2026, from 4:30 to 8:00 p.m. at 9601 Cedar Lane in Bethesda. All are welcome. The afternoon and evening honor Diwali, Bandi Chhor Divas, Kali Puja, and Tihar through music, dance, storytelling, sparklers for kids, food, and local vendors. This year's card also raises funds for communities affected by floods in Nepal and Tibet. Call 301-493-8300 or email office@cedarlane.org with access or volunteer questions.

Three and a half hours is the public window. Arrive near 4:30 for vendors and storytelling before the room peaks. Stay for sparklers later if kids are the reason you came. Dress festive. Bring cash for vendors and for the flood-relief ask. Cedar Lane sits in Bethesda's northern belt, a different corridor from Beltsville's mandir and from Sterling's expo hall. Street and lot parking fill on Sunday evenings; leave extra time off Connecticut Avenue and the Beltway. Hindus for Human Rights frames the night around liberation stories across those festivals, so expect remarks that connect festival light to community care rather than a pure concert card.

MOAPIA and Asia After Dark already opened Diwali weekend in the District on November 6. BAPS Beltsville and Durga Temple covered temple Diwali on November 8. Heritage India Festival lands November 28 and 29 in Sterling as the big shopping weekend. Cedar Lane is the mid-November community Diwali if you want music, vendors, and a shared lamp-lighting frame without a temple Chopda clock. Beltsville already handled the books ritual; Sterling covers the dense vendor floor later.

Cedar Lane is a congregation campus, so follow event signs rather than wandering into Sunday-service rooms that are not part of the festival. Kids' sparklers belong where organizers stage them; do not light anything in the parking lot, and leave personal fireworks at home. Food and vendors sit inside the public Diwali card, so plan a light meal beforehand if your household needs a full dinner after 8:00.

Who this is for: Bethesda, Chevy Chase, and close-in Maryland families, plus Hindus for Human Rights supporters who want a welcoming public Diwali with kids' sparklers. Mixed households and first-time guests are explicitly welcome on the congregation page. If the Nepal and Tibet flood fundraiser is why you came, bring small bills and ask at the welcome table where donations land. Northern Virginia readers who already did Fairfax Station or Beltsville on Diwali night can treat this as the softer community encore a week later.

Confirm any weather or door note on cedarlane.org the morning of. The congregation lists regular office hours separately from festival programming, so treat the November 15 card as the live door note for that night.

When: November 15, 2026 (4:30–8:00 p.m.)
Where: Cedar Lane UU Congregation, 9601 Cedar Ln, Bethesda, MD 20814

Details at cedarlane.org.