Lohri and Uttarayani 2027: when should shops and banquet halls start planning?

01When are Lohri and Makar Sankranti in 2027?

The calendars do not fully agree this year, so check before you print anything. Bhakti Bharat lists Lohri on Wednesday, 13 January 2027. Hindutone, going by the panchang, puts Lohri on 14 January and Makar Sankranti on Friday, 15 January, because the sun enters Makar on the night of 14 January. Some government lists still mark 14 January for Sankranti.

In Kumaon, Makar Sankranti is Uttarayani, and also Ghughutiya. Families fry ghughute from wheat flour and jaggery, string them with oranges into garlands for the children, and offer a piece to the crows. The melas run longer than the day itself. In Haldwani, the Uttarayani mela at the Parvatiya Sanskritik Utthan Manch in Hiranagar ran across several days in January 2026, with its procession through the bazaar on Makar Sankranti, as Amar Ujala reported.

So treat 13 to 15 January as the festival days and the week before as the buying week. Ask your gurdwara committee, mela organiser or pandit ji which date your customers will follow, and use that one date on every post.

02Which businesses should plan for Lohri and Uttarayani?

Anyone whose customers celebrate either festival, and that covers a lot of the bazaar here:

• Sweet shops and bakeries: gajak, rewari, til laddoo, chikki, and boxes for families visiting relatives.
• Dry fruit, gift and kirana shops: moongphali, gur and til, and boxes for pehli Lohri gifting.
• Banquet halls, restaurants, caterers, DJs and decorators: pehli Lohri functions for newlyweds and new babies.
• Boutiques and clothing stores: traditional suits, phulkari and festive wear for the first Lohri, and warm wear for the mela.
• Photographers and studios: family Lohri evenings are small events with a real budget.
• Kumaoni food brands, woollen sellers and handicraft makers taking a mela stall.

If you sell to both communities, plan two sets of posts. A Lohri post with a line in Punjabi and a Ghughutiya post with a line in Kumaoni feel personal. One generic Happy Makar Sankranti card feels like it came from a template, because it did.

03What does the plan look like, week by week?

Dates are for this season. Move them by a day if your community follows a different festival date.

04How do banquet halls and caterers sell pehli Lohri parties?

The first Lohri after a wedding or a baby's birth is a big family function for many Punjabi families. India TV describes the whole family and the relatives joining in, with dancing, singing and food. Around Udham Singh Nagar, many of those evenings need a hall, a party floor or a caterer with a tent.

Your best leads are already in your phone. Every couple whose wedding you hosted or catered since October is a pehli Lohri prospect. Send one polite WhatsApp in mid-December, with a short reel of your hall set up for an evening function and a clear package.

• Show the bonfire area and how you keep it safe. Parents worry about children near the fire.
• Be honest about slots. Many families want the same evening, so say which ones are left.
• Show winter comfort: heaters, covered seating, hot snacks at the door.
• Put the package on one image that can be forwarded to the family group.

Real functions in your own hall sell better than a stock decor photo. At Kartar's Haveli we have shot weddings in the banquet hall live, as they happened. See how we work with halls and restaurants at Restaurant Marketing Agency in Rudrapur & Kumaon.

05What should a sweet shop or gift shop shoot for Lohri and Ghughutiya?

Shoot in the first half of December. The winter sweets are already being made, and the shop is not yet too packed to film in. You need:

• Gajak or rewari being made, close up, with the sound of the kadhai.
• Each gift box closed and open, with its price band on a card in the frame.
• A Lohri thali of til, gur, moongphali, rewari and popcorn, shot from above in daylight.
• If you make ghughute or sell what goes into them, a short clip of the shapes being made. Many young families in the plains have never made them, and they will save it.
• The counter on a busy evening, for the last-order-date reel.

Keep each reel short and in plain Hindi. Put the price and the last order date on screen, because most people scroll with the sound off. When AMS shoots food, we check the colour of gur and gajak on a phone screen before we pack up, because warm browns can look flat under shop tube lights.

06Is an Uttarayani mela stall worth it, and how do you promote it?

For Kumaoni food brands, woollens, handicrafts and local products, a mela stall puts you in front of families who came out to spend. It only works if people know where you are.

• Ask the organising committee early about booking, location and timings. The better spots go first.
• Announce the stall a week before, with the stall number or a landmark, and repeat it in stories every day.
• Post stories from the stall at the busy hour, which is often the evening.
• Keep a QR code or WhatsApp number on the banner, so a visitor can order after the mela ends.
• Film the procession and the stage only where the organisers allow it.

Fairs reward coverage that runs alongside them, day and night. That is how we covered the full run of Saras Mela, from the buyer-seller meet to the live stage: the Saras Mela case study.

07What mistakes do businesses make with Lohri and Uttarayani posts?

• Starting on 10 January, when every shop already has the same gajak photo up.
• One generic greeting card with a big logo, posted on the wrong date.
• Putting a discount on a festival wish. Keep wishes and offers as separate posts.
• No last order date, so the orders pile up on the festival morning.
• English-only captions when customers ask in Hindi, Punjabi or Kumaoni.
• No follow-up. This year's pehli Lohri family is next year's birthday or anniversary booking.

Also keep Kharmas in mind. Many Hindu families pause weddings from mid-December to mid-January, so a jeweller or hall that leans on Lohri and New Year keeps its name in front of families until the wedding dates return. Our Kharmas 2026: what should jewellers, banquet halls and builders post while weddings pause? post covers that month in detail.

08How does AMS plan a festival week like this?

Advance Media Solution plans every festival the same way: fix the offer, shoot before you sell, and build the posts to a date. For a week with two festivals, we write two sets of captions and keep the greeting posts free of offers. We try to finish shooting in December, so January is only posting, replying and delivering.

On the first call, we ask three things. Which festival do most of your customers celebrate? What is your last order date? Who answers WhatsApp in the festival week?

If you want help with the shoot, the reels or the ads for Lohri and Uttarayani, call +91 91059 43909 before mid-December. If you plan to do it yourself, write your offer and your last order date on paper today. That one step does most of the work.

09Questions people ask