Welcome to TIO’s Religious Calendar

NOVEMBER 2026

All Saints’ Day – Christianity [Western churches]
A commemoration of the lives of people, known and unknown, whose holiness and compassion toward others represent the best Christian virtues. In some Christian traditions, the following day is reserved for intercessions for the dead and is known as All Souls’ Day.
Día de los Muertos – Cultural/Christian [Ends November 2]
Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos) is a two-day holiday that reunites the living and the dead. Families create colorful ofrendas (offerings) to honor their departed family members who have passed and are believed to encourage visits from the land of the dead as the departed souls hear their prayers, smell their foods, and join in the celebrations.

All Souls’ Day – Christianity
A holy day set aside for honoring the dead. Observed principally in the Catholic Church as a day of prayer and remembrance for the faithful departed, it is also kept by the Anglican Communion and a number of other Western Christian traditions.

Qudrat – Bahá’í
The beginning of the thirteenth month of the Bahá’í year, meaning “power.” The Bahá’í day runs from sunset to sunset, so the new month begins at sunset on November 3.

Diwali (Deepavali) – Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism
The festival of lights, is dedicated to the Goddess Kali in Bengal and is associated elsewhere in India with Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, as well as with stories of the destruction of evil by the god Vishnu in one of his many forms and with the coronation of Sri Rama. Sweets and gifts are exchanged, and it is a time for cleaning and preparing for the future.
Bandi Chhor Divas – Sikhism
A Sikh festival of liberation that coincides with Diwali that commemorates the release from Gwalior Fort in 1619 C.E. of the sixth Sikh Gurū, Gurū Hargobind, together with 52 imprisoned princes who secured their own freedom by holding onto the Guru’s cloak as he departed. Sikhs mark the day with prayers, kirtan, and langar at gurdwaras, and the Golden Temple in Amritsar is illuminated in remembrance.

Birth of Bahá’u’lláh – Bahá’í [Ends November 11]
The second of the Twin Holy Birthdays and one of the most joyous of Bahá’í holy days, commemorating the birth in 1817 C.E. in Tehran, Persia, of Bahá’u’lláh, the prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith, whose teachings center on the oneness of God, the oneness of religion, and the unity of humanity.

Nativity Fast – Orthodox Christian [Ends December 24]
"The Nativity Fast gives individuals the opportunity to prepare for the Feast of the Nativity of Our Lord and Savior in the Flesh on December 25. By abstaining from certain food and drink, particularly from meat, fish, dairy products, olive oil, and wine, as well as focusing more deeply on prayer and almsgiving, we can find that the primary aim of fasting is to make us conscious of our dependence upon God.” — Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America.

Christ the King Sunday – Christianity
This feast day commemorates Jesus’ teaching that he will return at the end of time to judge humanity. In the Western Christian liturgical year, this is the last Sunday; the following Sunday (i.e., the first Sunday of Advent) marks the beginning of a new year.

Qawl – Bahá’í
The beginning of the fourteenth month of the Bahá’í year, meaning “speech.” The Bahá’í day runs from sunset to sunset, so the new month begins at sunset on November 22.
Niiname-no-Matsuri – Shinto
“Niiname-sai, also celebrated non-religiously as Labor Thanksgiving Day, is a thanksgiving celebration in its own right. During the ritual, the Emperor shows gratitude to the gods for Japan’s harvest through offerings.” — Japan Sake and Shochu Makers Association

Gurū Nanak’s Birthday – Sikhism
Sikhs commonly celebrate the birthday of their founder, Gurū Nanak Dev Ji, on the full moon day of Kartik, even though the guru’s biographers record his birth on April 15, 1469 C.E. A poet and mystic, Guru Nanak wrote 974 hymns that are included in the Sikh scriptures, known as the Gurū Granth Sahib.
Martyrdom of Gurū Tegh Bahadur – Sikhism
November 24 is commemorated as the Shaheedi Divas (martyrdom day) of Gurū Tegh Bahadur, the ninth Sikh Gurū, who was executed in Delhi in 1675 C.E. on the order of the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb after refusing to convert to Islam. The martyrdom is kept on a fixed date, November 24, in the Nanakshahi calendar used by many gurdwaras, and the day is marked with prayers, kirtan, and reflection.

Thanksgiving
A national holiday in the United States, observed on the fourth Thursday of November, that traces its origins to the 1621 harvest celebration shared by the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people. A day for gratitude, family gatherings, and shared meals, it is also an occasion on which many faith communities hold interfaith worship services and organize charitable outreach, feeding neighbors of every tradition.

Native American Heritage Day – Civil Holiday
Native American Heritage Day encourages Americans of all backgrounds to appreciate indigenous cultures appropriately, with ceremonies and activities. The Native American Heritage Day Bill encourages public elementary and secondary schools to enhance student understanding of Native Americans by providing classroom instruction focusing on their history, achievements, and contributions.
Ascension of ’Abdu’l-Bahá – Bahá’í [Ends November 28]
The commemoration of the death of the Center of the Covenant in Haifa, Palestine, in 1921 C.E. In 2026 the commemoration runs from sunset on November 27 to sunset on November 28; work is not suspended.

Advent – Christianity [Ends December 24]
Advent, from the Latin adventus (“coming”), is the season that begins the Western Christian liturgical year — a time of expectant prayer and preparation for the celebration of the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It begins on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and continues through Christmas Eve. Many churches mark the season with the lighting of Advent candles and calendars that count the days to December 25.

Saint Andrew’s Day – Christianity
Saint Andrew’s Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. Saint Andrew is the disciple in the New Testament who introduced his brother, the Apostle Peter, to Jesus, the Messiah.