Seattle Center's Festál series puts two Asian American community festivals one week apart this November. Diwali: Lights of India is on Saturday, November 7, and Seattle Hmong New Year follows on Saturday, November 14, according to Seattle Center's official 2026 schedule. Festál festivals are free.

When are Seattle Diwali and Hmong New Year in 2026?

Seattle Center lists Diwali: Lights of India on Saturday, November 7, 2026, and Seattle Hmong New Year on Saturday, November 14, 2026. Hmong New Year closes the Festál season, which runs from February through November. The city's announcement does not give start times, stage lineups, or locations within the Seattle Center campus for either event, so anyone planning a visit should confirm details on the Festál event pages.

What is Seattle Center Festál?

Festál marks its 29th year in 2026 and launched in 1997. This year's series includes 25 free cultural festivals, each produced with a community-based organization and presented by Seattle Center. The city says Festál draws about 400,000 visits a year, generates an estimated $30 million in economic activity and supports more than 250 jobs.

Heidi Jackson, managing artistic director of cultural programs at Seattle Center, said that Festál "thrives because it's rooted in community collaboration."

A season built around Asian and Pacific communities

The 2026 schedule is full of Asian American and Pacific Islander programming. It includes Tết in Seattle for Vietnamese Lunar New Year on February 14 and 15, the Seattle Cherry Blossom and Japanese Cultural Festival from April 10 to 12, and Pagdiriwang Philippine Festival on June 6 and 7. It also includes A Day in Punjab on August 1, Tibet Fest on August 8 and 9, and the Live Aloha Hawaiian Cultural Festival on September 13.

Diwali: Lights of India and Seattle Hmong New Year come at the end of that run. One serves a South Asian American community and the other a Hmong American one, and each is organized by community groups rather than by the venue alone. Both are free, and both sit on Seattle Center's calendar alongside the year's other Asian and Pacific festivals.

What to confirm before you go

The city page does not list vendors, creator programming, or schedules for either date. Before November 7, check the individual event pages for times and programming. Diwali itself falls on Sunday, November 8 this year, according to publicholidays.com, so the Seattle celebration lands the day before the holiday.