Albany Nepalese Society Announces Tihar Celebration for November 7
ANNS follows its Dashain event with a Tihar celebration on November 7 featuring Lakshmi Puja, Bhai Tika and Deusi-Bhailo — venue still to be announced.
By Nepalese Events Australia Editorial
Published: 2026-09-30T02:30:00.000000Z
Category: Festivals
The Albany New York Nepalese Society isn't stopping at Dashain. The community nonprofit has listed a Tihar Celebration on Saturday, November 7, 2026, from 5 PM to 10 PM — the society's second major festival event in three weeks.
What's planned
The published listing describes a programme covering the main elements of the five-day Tihar festival:
• Lakshmi Puja — the worship of the goddess of wealth that anchors Tihar evening
• Bhai Tika — the sibling blessing ceremony that closes the festival
• Deusi-Bhailo — the traditional song-and-blessing rounds performed during Tihar
• Cultural performances, Nepali food, music and community gathering
One important caveat for attendees: the society's events page lists the venue as still to be announced. ANNS used Shaker Middle School in Latham for its October 17 Dashain celebration, but no venue has been confirmed for Tihar yet — check the official ANNS events page for the location before travelling.
Event details
Date: Saturday, November 7, 2026
Time: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM
Venue: To be announced
Organizer: Albany New York Nepalese Society (ANNS)
Type: Community celebration — expect the same member/guest pricing structure as the Dashain event
Tihar across the US in 2026
November 7 is shaping up as a busy Tihar weekend nationally. On the west coast, the Olympia Hindu Temple in Washington has already published a detailed multi-day Tihar programme starting November 6 with Kag Tihar. Closer to Albany's date, the Dashain-Tihar Dhamaka tour wraps its US run in Florida on November 7, covered in our tour schedule breakdown.
Tihar is often called the festival of lights, and for diaspora families it's frequently the event where children learn Deusi-Bhailo songs and the Bhai Tika ritual for the first time — which is exactly why community associations like ANNS keep it on the calendar even when commercial promoters skip it.
The five days it celebrates
For readers newer to the festival — including second-generation attendees — Tihar compresses five distinct observances into one celebration: Kag Tihar (honouring crows), Kukur Tihar (honouring dogs), Lakshmi Puja (worshipping the goddess of wealth on the new-moon evening), Govardhan Puja / Mha Puja, and finally Bhai Tika, when sisters apply a seven-coloured tika to their brothers' foreheads and exchange gifts. The ANNS programme folds the biggest communal elements — Lakshmi Puja, Bhai Tika and the Deusi-Bhailo singing tradition — into a single evening.
Deusi-Bhailo itself is worth explaining for younger attendees: groups of children and youths traditionally go door to door through the festival nights singing blessing songs in exchange for money and treats — the Nepali counterpart to carol singing. Community events recreate it as a stage performance rather than a neighbourhood round, which is how the tradition survives in the diaspora. If your children want to perform, watch the ANNS page for the performance-submission call — the society used the same format for its Dashain roster.
For anyone juggling dates between the US and Nepal — Tihar timing can differ by a day between the two countries — our Nepal–New York time converter shows the offset, and the festival calendar s the Nepal-side dates. More US community coverage lives on our USA desk.
Read more Nepali community news and stories. Browse upcoming Nepali events across Australia.
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