Diwali 2026 marketing plan for shops in Rudrapur and Haldwani: a week-by-week countdown

01What are the Diwali 2026 dates a shop should plan around?

The 2026 dates, checked against published calendars. Put them on the wall behind the counter.

• Sharad Navratri: Sunday 11 October to Monday 19 October (Ashtami and Navami both fall on 19 October), then Dussehra on Tuesday 20 October.
• Karva Chauth: Thursday 29 October.
• Dhanteras: Friday 6 November.
• Diwali (Lakshmi Puja): Sunday 8 November.
• Govardhan Puja: Tuesday 10 November.
• Bhai Dooj: Tuesday 10 November on some calendars, Wednesday 11 November on others. Uttarakhand's state holiday is on 11 November.
• Chhath Puja: 13 to 16 November, with the main evening arghya on Sunday 15 November.
• Guru Nanak Jayanti (Gurpurab): Tuesday 24 November.

The wedding season starts after Dev Uthani Ekadashi on Friday 20 November, and it is short this year: muhurat dates run only until mid-December. Puja timings can shift a little by city, so check a local panchang before printing a muhurat.

02When should a shop start Diwali marketing in 2026?

Start by 4 October at the latest, so the shoot is done before Navratri. The countdown at a glance:

• 29 Sep to 4 Oct: decide the offer, stock and ad budget.
• 5 to 10 Oct: shoot, before Navratri.
• 11 to 20 Oct, Navratri and Dussehra: post often, test small ads near the shop.
• 21 to 31 Oct: Karva Chauth, pre-orders, confirm company gifts.
• 1 to 8 Nov: daily stock posts, Google special hours, most ad spend.
• 9 to 30 Nov: Bhai Dooj, Chhath, Gurpurab, weddings, reviews.

The Royal Art's Rakhi campaign was built to a date, well ahead of the festival. It was part of a launch that did ₹70k+ in sales within its first twenty days.

03What should a shop decide first, by 4 October?

Between 29 September and 4 October, decide four things before anyone picks up a camera.

• The offer, in one line. Free delivery in town on gift boxes, making charges waived on one range, an exchange on old TVs. One offer, not five.
• The stock. Only promote what you will still have on 6 November. A reel for a box that sold out brings annoyed DMs.
• The customer. A family buying for its own home, a sister buying for a brother and a company buying boxes by the carton need different posts.
• The ad budget. Fix one total, in your own ad account. A small part tests reels in Navratri. Most of it waits for 1 to 8 November.

Then tell past customers on WhatsApp. The Diwali range is coming, and pre-orders open on a date you name. On the WhatsApp Business app, broadcast lists only reach people who have saved your number, so ask at the counter too. WhatsApp is also starting to cap free broadcasts each month in some regions, so check your allowance before Diwali week.

Selling gift boxes to companies? Pitch SIDCUL companies by early October, not in November. In our experience, many settle their Diwali gift orders well before the festival, so a late pitch can miss the order.

04When should I shoot Diwali photos and reels?

In the week of 5 October. Navratri starts on Sunday 11 October, and from then until Diwali the shop stays full. A shoot squeezed in between customers gets rushed, and it shows.

This is what we try to get in one visit:

• Gift boxes, open and closed, with the price card in the frame.
• The product in use: a saree draped on a person, a necklace worn, a family on the new sofa, a TV switched on.
• The owner on camera for under half a minute, in the Hindi you use at the counter. What is new this year, and till when you take orders.
• Everything vertical, with a few versions of each shot, to last until Gurpurab.

Shoot in daylight, close to the shop door, before you open. Tube lights and cheap LED strips can make gold look dull and shift the colour of silk. Shoot the lit-up front later, when your Diwali lights go up.

If you would rather not shoot it yourself, see Videographer in Rudrapur for Brands & Events.

05Which Navratri reel should become your Diwali ad?

From 11 October to Dussehra on 20 October, post three or four times a week. Clothing, saree and salon customers are often already shopping for Navratri.

Start small ads now. Target a radius around the shop, the distance people will actually travel. A family in Haldwani is unlikely to drive to Kichha for one box of sweets.

Then watch which reel people share, save or DM you about with the word price in it. That reel becomes the Diwali ad, even if it is not your favourite.

Bluwalker, a direct-to-consumer apparel label that sells online, is a different kind of business from a local shop, but the idea is the same. Its drop reel earned the organic views first, then became the ad without a rebuild. How we run ads is at Facebook Ads Agency in Rudrapur | Meta Ads.

Dussehra on Tuesday 20 October ends the test. By then you should know which reel gets the Diwali money.

06How should jewellers, salons and sweet shops market Karva Chauth?

21 to 31 October is for Karva Chauth, Diwali pre-orders and company gifts. Karva Chauth falls on Thursday 29 October, about a week before Dhanteras. For four kinds of shop it is a sale of its own.

• Jewellers: light pieces a husband can buy as a gift, with a price range in the caption.
• Salons: mehendi and makeup slots for 28 and 29 October. Post open slots and book on WhatsApp.
• Saree and clothing shops: red and festive sarees, shown draped, posted early enough to be stitched or fitted.
• Sweet shops: sargi boxes and sweets for the evening, with an order-by time.

Open Diwali pre-orders in the same window. Post the gift boxes with the price, the last order date and the delivery area. Each pre-order taken in October is one less customer waiting at the counter on 7 November.

Late October is for confirming company gift orders, not pitching. Send the admin or HR contact a sample photo, the final price with GST and a delivery date before Dhanteras.

07What should a shop post in Dhanteras and Diwali week?

Dhanteras and Diwali week runs from 1 to 8 November. Dhanteras is Friday 6 November. Jewellers, electronics and furniture showrooms and utensil shops should be loudest from 1 November to that day.

• Post every day: what is in stock, till what time you are open, and the last time for delivery before puja.
• Set special hours on your Google Business Profile for Dhanteras, Diwali and any day you close after. Wrong hours on Google send a customer to the next shop.
• Send one WhatsApp broadcast, around Tuesday 3 November: the range, the price band, the timings and a number to call. One message, not one a day.
• Put most of the ad budget behind the reel that won in Navratri, on the same radius.
• Give one person the job of answering calls and DMs the same day. A reply the next morning is a sale made somewhere else.

08What should a shop post after Diwali?

The season does not end on 8 November.

• Bhai Dooj: take sweet and gift orders for both 10 and 11 November.
• Chhath: for many families from Bihar and eastern UP it is the biggest festival of the year. If they shop with you, post what you stock for the puja and your timings for that week.
• Guru Nanak Jayanti on Tuesday 24 November. A respectful Gurpurab greeting, not an offer.
• The wedding season. Jewellers, saree shops and salons should turn the feed to bridal and guest looks from Dev Uthani Ekadashi on 20 November.
• A thank-you post in the week after Diwali, with the staff who worked the rush.

Then ask Diwali customers for a Google review, on WhatsApp with your review link, while the purchase is fresh. A review is what the next customer reads before walking in.

Advance Media Solution plans, shoots and runs festival campaigns for shops in Rudrapur, Kichha, Gadarpur and Haldwani, and travels further for shoot days. If you would rather hand this countdown to someone, call +91 91059 43909, even if it is only to check your plan.

09Questions people ask