Lohri 2027 when is it, what is it and is there Lohri in the Netherlands?

What is Lohri?

Lohri is a Punjabi winter festival, held in the middle of January. It is tied to the rabi crop, the winter wheat that is ripening in the fields, and to the Sun's journey north, which brings longer days. Families give thanks for the harvest and for the end of the coldest weeks.

A bonfire is the heart of the evening, lit outdoors once it is dark. People circle it, bow to it and toss in rewri (a sesame-and-sugar sweet), peanuts, popcorn, sesame and jaggery. Dhol drumming and folk songs follow, then bhangra and gidda dancing and plenty of shared food.

Lohri is kept in Punjab on both sides of the India-Pakistan border and in nearby parts of northern India such as Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi.

When is Lohri in 2027?

In the Netherlands Lohri is on the evening of Wednesday 13 January 2027. In India calendars give Wednesday 13 or Thursday 14 January.

The difference comes from the moment the Sun enters Capricorn, which marks Makar Sankranti. Lohri is held the day before. In New Delhi that moment is at 21:14 on 14 January, after sunset, so Makar Sankranti moves to Friday 15 January and Lohri to Thursday 14 January.

In Amsterdam the same moment is at 16:44 on 14 January, in the late afternoon. Makar Sankranti is therefore Thursday 14 January and Lohri Wednesday 13 January. These days Lohri usually lands on 13 or 14 January.

Lohri belongs to a cluster of mid-January festivals. Maghi, when Sikhs remember the Chali Mukte, the forty Sikhs who died in 1705, belongs to the same days, and Thai Pongal falls on 14 January in Amsterdam and on 15 January in India.

Dutch events are organised by communities and groups, so the date of an event is the one its organiser gives.

Traditions: fire, food and songs

The fire is the centre of Lohri, and people pray as they circle it. Sweet offerings go into the flames: sesame, jaggery, sugar sweets and rewri. For the Sun, Hindu families pour out milk and water beside the fire. Many see the fire as the end of evil forces and the coming of good fortune.

Food is shared around the fire. Gajak (a sesame sweet), jaggery, peanuts and popcorn are the typical snacks. A Punjabi meal of sarson da saag, a mustard-greens dish, with makki di roti, maize flatbread, is also common.

Groups of children sing Lohri songs at doors in the neighbourhood and are rewarded with rewri, peanuts, popcorn or a little money. Households are expected to give them something. The songs are folk verses, and many of them are about Dulla Bhatti.

Dulla Bhatti and the first Lohri

Many Lohri songs remember Dulla Bhatti, a Punjabi folk hero from a Muslim Rajput family of the Bhatti tribe, who lived in the time of the Mughal emperor Akbar. The records of his period do not mention him; his story survives in Punjabi folk songs. In those songs he saves girls from traffickers and pays for their weddings. One of them, "Sundri-Mundri", is sung in his honour at Lohri.

A home with a new baby or a recent wedding celebrates its first Lohri on a larger scale. The baby gets new clothes, relatives bring gifts, and for a bride her parents' family sends sweets and clothes. Many families now celebrate the birth of daughters at Lohri too; in Punjab, programmes called Dhiyaan di Lohri celebrate the birth of daughters.

Who celebrates Lohri?

Lohri is a Punjabi festival kept by Sikhs and Hindus; in India people of other faiths join in too.

The two religious traditions give it their own meaning. Hindus honour Agni, the god of fire, and Surya, the Sun, at Lohri. For Sikhs the connected observance is Maghi, when they remember the forty Sikhs, the Chali Mukte or "Forty Liberated Ones", who died in battle in 1705. Many visit the gurdwara, kheer (a sweet milk rice) is eaten, and a large fair, the Mela Maghi, is held at Muktsar in Punjab.

Lohri is a Punjabi cultural festival and is dated by the solar Bikrami calendar, not given a fixed Nanakshahi date.

Lohri in the Netherlands

About 15,000 Sikhs live in the Netherlands, mostly around Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Almere and Den Haag. There are eight gurdwaras: three in Amsterdam, one in Almere, three in Den Haag and one in Rotterdam. The Indian community in the Netherlands numbers about 240,000 people.

No Dutch Lohri event for 2027 is known yet: we know of no organiser that has announced a public one. Dutch Punjabi groups do run events through the year: Eindhoven Bhangra Vibes has held bhangra classes, gidda workshops, a Vaisakhi celebration on 12 April 2025 and a Punjabi Mela on 26 September 2026, but no Lohri event. Events that organisers announce for Lohri 2027 appear on this page.

How to join a Lohri celebration

Lohri has no single organiser in the Netherlands. Each event sets its own entry, price and rules, so read the organiser's own page before you go. The events below are the ones Evenitto has found.

If the celebration is held at a gurdwara, the usual rules apply: cover your head with a scarf or turban, take off your shoes and sit cross-legged on the floor. Do not stretch your legs out towards the Guru Granth Sahib, the Sikh scripture, which is disrespectful. The langar hall is where everyone eats together. Shri Guru Nanak Gurdwara Sahib on the Schakelstraat in Amsterdam holds a Sunday programme of kirtan and katha from 11:30 to 13:00, followed by langar; times can change, so check with the gurdwara.

You can also learn the dances: Eindhoven Bhangra Vibes has run bhangra and gidda classes and workshops.