Diwali: Lights of India 2026 at Seattle Center Festál

Diwali: Lights of India lands Saturday, November 7, 2026 at the Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall. The official calendar starts the day at 12:00 p.m. Admission is free.

The holiday itself falls on Sunday, November 8 this year. Festál puts the public version on the Saturday before, in the same indoor hall that already held A Day in Punjab in August.

Seattle Center Festál is the city’s year-round run of 25 free community festivals, produced with neighborhood groups. The 2026 season is its 29th. Diwali is one of the last two dates on the card. Seattle Hmong New Year closes the series the following Saturday, November 14, in the same Armory.

The partner this year is Northwest Share, a Seattle 501(c)(3) founded in 2000. The group books arts festivals with Seattle Center, Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah, Northwest Folklife, and Washington State Parks, and also runs vegetarian food trucks. If you already know Ananda Mela, this is one of the orgs behind that Eastside weekend.

The posted 2026 program is music, dance, visual art, martial arts, and a cooking demonstration. Treat that as the shape of the day, not a locked hour-by-hour card. Festál has not published an end time on the official listing. Check the Seattle Center calendar the week of.

Most of the region’s other Diwali nights sit behind membership or a ticket. Uttoron’s Deepaboli is the next day, Sunday, November 8, 2:15 to 8:15 p.m. at Pickering Barn in Issaquah. Details on that page are still “coming soon,” and Uttoron requires an RSVP for every event. Members get in when they register. Non-members need an entry ticket bought ahead. WAIA’s Diwali Mela is earlier, October 24 in Bothell, free with a form. If you want a walk-up Saturday with kids and no portal login, the Armory is the easier door.

Ananda Mela already happened August 8–9 on the Redmond City Hall lawn. That was the outdoor Eastside India weekend. This is the indoor city one. Uttoron’s Sharodotsav at Magnuson Park Hangar 30 is the October Durga Puja, not Diwali. Different holiday, different weekend.

The Armory sits at 305 Harrison Street, on the Seattle Center campus next to the International Fountain. The Seattle Center Monorail from Westlake is the simplest downtown hop. RapidRide D and several Metro routes stop on the 5th Avenue and Denny edge. Campus parking exists; it fills when a Kraken or opera night overlaps. Questions go to Seattle Center at (206) 684-7200.

Our take: go if you want a free public Diwali without joining a mandir list. Arrive near noon, pick one performance block and the cooking demo, then leave before the late-afternoon crush if you have small kids. Save Issaquah’s Deepaboli for people who already have an Uttoron login.

When: November 7, 2026, starts 12:00 p.m. (end time not posted)
Where: Seattle Center Armory Food & Event Hall, 305 Harrison St, Seattle, WA 98109