Nepal Bank Holidays 2026: A Remittance Timing Calendar

The banking week itself

Nepal's banking week runs Monday to Friday, with both Saturday and Sunday as standing bank holidays. Any transfer sent late Thursday or on Friday may not process until the following Monday — worth building into your timing regardless of which festival is or isn't coming up.

Dashain: the big one

Dashain runs October 11-25, 2026 — a 15-day national holiday, Nepal's longest and most significant. This is the single highest-volume remittance period of the year for every corridor sending to Nepal. Banks and offices scale back significantly during the core days of the festival. If you're sending a Dashain-related gift or family support, sending a week or more ahead of October 11 avoids both the processing slowdown and the queue at exchange houses and pickup locations.

Tihar: the second wave

Tihar (Deepawali) falls November 8-11, 2026, a few weeks after Dashain. It's a smaller surge than Dashain but still a real one — the same logic applies: send a few days ahead rather than during the peak itself.

Other dates worth knowing

Chhath Puja runs October 28-31, 2026, particularly significant in Nepal's Terai region — relevant if your recipient is based there specifically. Holi falls March 3, 2026. None of these carry the same nationwide banking impact as Dashain or Tihar, but worth knowing if your recipient's specific region observes them heavily.

A simple planning rule

For anything time-sensitive — rent due, a bill, an emergency — send several days ahead of any of these dates, not the day before. For routine transfers with no specific deadline, the actual date matters less than avoiding the days immediately before and during Dashain specifically, since that's where the volume and processing impact is genuinely largest.

See also: best time to send money to Nepal · how to track your transfer