October Religious Festivals and Dates

https://www.humanreligions.info/october.html

By Vexen Crabtree 2026

#hinduism #islam #judaism #october #paganism

2026
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Note that some traditions have festivals and dates that start at sundown or in the evening of the night before, such as (Jewish, Muslim and some Pagan events). There are few Hindu dates on these calendars yet, due to the complexity & multiplicity of all the various calendars in use. Likewise, there are few south-east Asian calendar dates.

Date	Event	Notes
Oct 1st Thursday (fixed)	Christian Harvest Festival	Christianity. Harvests are laid out in church.
Oct 2nd Friday (fixed)	Gandhi Jayanti	Hinduism. For the birthday of Mahatma Gandi who bears much responsibility for creating India.
Oct 3rd Saturday (this year)	Shemini Atzeret	Judaism. Seasonal date that marks the beginning of the rainy season in Israel marked by candles, festive meals and celebration. The annual reading of the Torah restarts.
Oct 3rd Saturday (this year)	Simchat Torah	Judaism. Outside of Israel, occurs a day later. The Torah reading moves from the end of Deuteronomy to the beginning of Genesis.
Oct 4th Sunday
Oct 5th Monday (this year)	Confucius' Birthday	Confucianism.
Oct 6th Tuesday
Oct 7th Wednesday
Oct 8th Thursday
Oct 9th Friday (this year)	Guru Ram Das's Gurpurab/Prakesh (birthday)	Sikhism. The fourth guru.
Oct 10th Saturday
Oct 11th Sunday
Oct 12th Monday
Oct 13th Tuesday
Oct 14th Wednesday
Oct 15th Thursday
Oct 16th Friday (this year)	Feast of 'Ilm (Knowledge)	Bahá'í Faith.
Oct 17th Saturday
Oct 18th Sunday (this year)	Chong Yang Jie	Chinese religion. For climbing hills and high places, flying kites, and visiting family graves.
Oct 19th Monday
Oct 20th Tuesday (this year)	Gurgadi Divas of Siri Guru Granth Sahib	Sikhism.
Oct 20th Tuesday (fixed)	Birth of the Bab (until 2014)	Bahá'í Faith. This was observed on the 20th of Oct each year until 2014, after which it was changed to the 8th new moon after each Bahai new year. The prophet who foretold the arrival of Baha'u'llah (another prophet).
Oct 20th Tuesday (this year)	Harkrishan becomes the 8th guru	Sikhism.
Oct 20th Tuesday (this year)	The Granth Sahib Holy Book Becomes the 11th and Final Guru	Sikhism. The holy scriptures themselves became the final Guru in 1708 and the line of human Gurus ended.
Oct 20th Tuesday (this year)	Guru Har Rai's Jyoti Jot (death)	Sikhism. The seventh guru.
Oct 21st Wednesday (this year)	Guru Gobind Singh's Jyoti Jot (death)	Sikhism. The tenth Guru.
Oct 22nd Thursday
Oct 23rd Friday
Oct 24th Saturday (5 days) (this year)	Maidyoshahem (of Hordad)	Zoroastrianism. The third day (Jishan-e-Tiragan) is the most important. The seasonal festival of Hordad, the Holy Immortal, who created water and represents health and completeness. Possibly originally a midsummer festival, but inaccurate calendars has meant the date has strayed.
Oct 25th Sunday (this year)	Ava Mah Parab / Aban Jashan	Zoroastrianism. Celebration of Ava, guardian of fertility and water.
Oct 26th Monday
Oct 27th Tuesday
Oct 28th Wednesday
Oct 29th Thursday
Oct 30th Friday
Oct 31st Saturday (fixed)	Halloween	The secular celebration of the ancient pagan festival of Samhain.
Oct 31st Saturday (fixed)	Samhain	Paganism. For the coming of winter. The turning of the natural cycles continues; this commemorates death and remembers those who are dead.