Multicultural Holiday Content Calendar 2026–27: Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, Lunar New Year

When are Día de los Muertos, Diwali, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa and Lunar New Year in 2026–27?

Día de los Muertos is Sunday 1 and Monday 2 November 2026, Diwali (Lakshmi Puja) is Sunday 8 November in Los Angeles, Hanukkah begins at sundown on Friday 4 December, Kwanzaa runs from Saturday 26 December to Friday 1 January 2027, and Lunar New Year is Saturday 6 February 2027. Two have a second date: Tamil Deepavali is Saturday 7 November, and Korean Seollal is Sunday 7 February. For the rest of February, see the Super Bowl and Valentine's Day content calendar.

Post-by date and latest live-action shoot, at a glance:

• Día de los Muertos: post by Thursday 29 October; shoot by 19–22 October.
• Diwali: post by Thursday 5 November; shoot by 26–29 October.
• Hanukkah: post by Tuesday 1 December; shoot by 21–24 November.
• Kwanzaa: post by Wednesday 23 December; shoot by 13–16 December.
• Lunar New Year: post by Wednesday 3 February 2027; shoot by 24–27 January.

Every holiday date comes from a government, a public institution or the holiday's own calendar keeper, read directly as of 5 October 2026. The shoot dates use Dream Aspect's typical 7–10 days from shoot day to first delivery, so booking, your approval round and extra cuts sit on top. Dream Aspect sells production and benefits if you book early, so read the windows with that in mind.

When does content for each holiday have to be live, and when do you shoot?

Dream Aspect's rule is to post greeting and awareness content three days before each holiday, counting Diwali from Lakshmi Puja. That step rests on Metricool's 2026 Instagram study: “For Reels, days 1 to 3 account for 65% of views”. Per Metricool's announcement, it covered 24,364,803 posts from 375,118 accounts in January–February 2025 and 2026, not holiday weeks, so treat it as a ceiling; Metricool also sells a social-media and ad-management platform. Nothing Dream Aspect read measures Diwali or Lunar New Year purchase timing, so this calendar sets no gifting or sales date.

The production step uses Dream Aspect's published windows. The video marketing page says “Full content delivery typically takes 7-10 days after the content shoot day”, which we read as first delivery. The CGI page runs from about 2–5 days for 7–12 seconds of simple 2D to “2 weeks to a month” for complex 3D, counted from an approved brief. All of it is in calendar days; the “safe” date is the earlier one, and the fast date assumes nothing slips.

• Día de los Muertos (Sun 1 – Mon 2 Nov 2026): post by Thu 29 Oct; shoot Mon 19 – Thu 22 Oct; complex 3D brief by Tue 29 Sep – Thu 15 Oct; simple 2D start by Sat 24 – Tue 27 Oct.
• Diwali (Lakshmi Puja, Sun 8 Nov 2026): post by Thu 5 Nov; shoot Mon 26 – Thu 29 Oct; 3D brief by Tue 6 – Thu 22 Oct; 2D start by Sat 31 Oct – Tue 3 Nov.
• Hanukkah (sundown Fri 4 Dec – Sat 12 Dec 2026): post by Tue 1 Dec; shoot Sat 21 – Tue 24 Nov; 3D brief by Sun 1 – Tue 17 Nov; 2D start by Thu 26 – Sun 29 Nov.
• Kwanzaa (Sat 26 Dec 2026 – Fri 1 Jan 2027): post by Wed 23 Dec; shoot Sun 13 – Wed 16 Dec; 3D brief by Mon 23 Nov – Wed 9 Dec; 2D start by Fri 18 – Mon 21 Dec.
• Lunar New Year (Sat 6 Feb 2027; Seollal Sun 7 Feb): post by Wed 3 Feb; shoot Sun 24 – Wed 27 Jan; 3D brief by Mon 4 – Wed 20 Jan; 2D start by Fri 29 Jan – Mon 1 Feb.

The calendar collides with itself in October. The latest Diwali shoot lands in the week of Halloween, Saturday 31 October, and one content day on 19–22 October can serve Día de los Muertos and Diwali, as two briefs, two casts and two sets of advisors, never one “festive” set. A complex 3D Lunar New Year brief, due 4–20 January, is a December decision.

Which of these holidays matter more for a Los Angeles audience?

Día de los Muertos and Lunar New Year. On Dream Aspect's arithmetic from Census Reporter's ACS 2020–2024 tables and Census QuickFacts, Los Angeles County holds about three times the national share of Mexican-origin residents and of Chinese, Taiwanese, Korean and Vietnamese residents, and a smaller share than the nation of Asian Indian and Black residents. So an LA County audience over-indexes for two of these five holidays, not five. Every share and ratio below is our arithmetic, not the Census Bureau's:

• Día de los Muertos: Mexican origin is 35.3% of the county against 11.3% nationally (3.1×), or 3,458,834 people.
• Lunar New Year: Chinese (except Taiwanese), Taiwanese, Korean and Vietnamese residents together are 7.9% against 2.4% (3.3×), or 770,756 people.
• Diwali: Asian Indian residents are 1.0% against 1.4% (0.73×, under), or 98,416 people.
• Kwanzaa: Black-alone residents are 8.9% against 13.5% (0.66×, under), about 860,000 people on the V2025 estimate of 9,694,934, more than the four Lunar New Year groups combined, though on a different vintage.
• Hanukkah: not measured, because QuickFacts publishes no religion figure.

Two more QuickFacts rows (2020–2024) matter for all five holidays: 55.1% of county residents aged five and over speak a language other than English at home (22.3% nationally), and 33.4% were born abroad (14.1%). Plan captions and language review before the shoot. Remember too that ancestry is not observance: the Hindu American Foundation describes Diwali as commemorated “for Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, and Buddhists”, a population these tables do not count. If the case for a Diwali or Kwanzaa campaign is “we are in Los Angeles”, it is the wrong case against the national share, though the Black-alone count shows the absolute audience is not small.

When is the last day to shoot Día de los Muertos content in 2026, and how do you keep it from becoming a costume?

The latest live-action shoot for first delivery is Monday 19 to Thursday 22 October, to post by Thursday 29 October, ahead of Sunday 1 November. Keep Halloween's visual language out of it. The Smithsonian's National Museum of American History notes that many might think of it “as an extension of Halloween”, and answers that the ofrendas, offerings to the dead, show it is “deeply significant, intensely personal”. The museum dates it 1 and 2 November.

A Smithsonian explainer says it “is often celebrated on Nov. 1 as a day to remember children who have passed away, and on Nov. 2 to honor adults”. Dream Aspect anchors on 1 November; anchoring on 2 November moves every date one day later. UNESCO proclaimed the festivity, “[a]s practised by the indigenous communities of Mexico”, in 2003 and inscribed it in 2008. The same explainer adds: “Many communities that celebrate Día de los Muertos also celebrate Halloween.” So the rule is not “never mention Halloween” but “never treat one as a theme for the other”.

Disney supplied the clearest brand lesson. On 1 May 2013 it applied to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office for the phrase “Día de los Muertos”, CNN reported. A Change.org petition called it “cultural appropriation and exploitation at its worst” and passed 21,000 signatures. Disney withdrew, a spokeswoman telling CNNMexico that “the title of the film will change”; CNN placed the withdrawal “after the backlash”, and Disney did not comment on whether social media drove it.

The lesson shaped the film itself. In 2017 one of Coco's directors told LAist's The Frame the episode showed them they had to “leave no stone unturned when it came to being culturally respectful”, and the team brought on cultural advisors, among them Lalo Alcaráz, the cartoonist who had criticised the trademark attempt.

Dream Aspect's reading of the Smithsonian, LAist and CNN sources gives five rules for a Día de los Muertos brief, each one a thing to do and the mistake it replaces:

• Remembrance, not Halloween: brief it as remembrance on 1 and 2 November, never as a Halloween extension.
• Whimsy, not horror: treat calaveras as a “whimsical reminder of the cyclicality of life”, not as horror imagery.
• No ofrenda as a product set: show an ofrenda only with the family who built it, credited.
• Advisors before the script: hire and credit them early, not after the edit is locked.
• Never own the name: use the holiday's name in your copy, but don't try to trademark it.

When is Diwali 2026 in Los Angeles, and which day should a brand post on?

Lakshmi Puja, the day Drik Panchang labels Diwali, falls on Sunday 8 November 2026 in Los Angeles, with the puja window from 5:16–7:08 PM local time. Drik Panchang is the only Diwali source here, computed for Los Angeles, so recompute for another city. Its Los Angeles Diwali calendar counts five days, Dhanteras to Bhaiya Dooj, a day longer in Maharashtra, so the right posting day depends on the community:

• Thursday 5 November: Govatsa Dwadashi, Maharashtra's first day.
• Friday 6 November: Dhanteras (Dhantrayodashi).
• Saturday 7 November: Narak Chaturdashi; Tamil Deepavali.
• Sunday 8 November: Lakshmi Puja; Diwali.
• Monday 9 November: Govardhan Puja; Annakut; Gujarati New Year.
• Tuesday 10 November: Bhaiya Dooj.

Dream Aspect anchors on Lakshmi Puja, the later date, which gives you more time, not less: greeting content goes live by Thursday 5 November, with the latest live-action shoot on 26–29 October. For a Tamil audience, post by Wednesday 4 November, latest shoot 25–28 October. Anchored on Dhanteras, post by Tuesday 3 November, latest shoot 24–27 October. The greeting itself goes out on the day your audience keeps, 8 November by default or 7 November for Tamil Deepavali. One “Happy Diwali” post on the wrong day is the generic calendar's mistake.

When is Hanukkah 2026, and how does Thanksgiving affect the shoot?

Hebcal gives Hanukkah 2026 as 4–12 December, starting at sundown on Friday 4 December. To post by Tuesday 1 December, the latest live-action shoot for first delivery is 21–24 November, which falls just before Thanksgiving on Thursday 26 November. A complex 3D brief is due between 1 and 17 November, and simple 2D can start by 26–29 November, though Dream Aspect counts every window in calendar days straight through the Thanksgiving weekend.

Should a brand make Kwanzaa content at all?

For most brands, not product content. Kwanzaa runs from Saturday 26 December 2026 to Friday 1 January 2027, and its founding organisation warns against exactly the content most brands would make. If you make something, post by Wednesday 23 December, with the latest live-action shoot for first delivery on 13–16 December. Maulana Karenga's own site says he “created Kwanzaa in 1966” and that it “is celebrated from December 26 to January 1”. The Smithsonian's NMAAHC gives the same dates for “a week-long celebration honoring African heritage and culture”.

The official Kwanzaa website is kept by the Organization Us, “the founding organization of Kwanzaa”. Its FAQ says “Kwanzaa is not a religious holiday, but a cultural one with an inherent spiritual quality as with all major African celebrations.” It separates artists and vendors who “provide Kwanzaa materials” from “the corporate world's move to penetrate and dominate the community Kwanzaa market”, and warns of corporations “borrowing the language and symbols of the holiday itself to redefine it along commercial lines”. Its guidance on The Celebration page says “you should not mix the Kwanzaa holiday or its symbols, values and practice with any other culture.” That is guidance to celebrants, not a survey of practice.

Dream Aspect reads that as a reason not to fold Kwanzaa into a “Happy Holidays” reel beside Christmas and Hanukkah. For most brands the right Kwanzaa video is not a product video at all. If your brand has a real relationship with Black-owned makers, artists or community organisations, the keepers' own distinction points the way: feature them, credit them, and do not sell over them. If not, a respectful greeting, or nothing, is the honest choice.

When is Lunar New Year 2027, and why do the Korean and Chinese dates differ?

Lunar New Year's Day is Saturday 6 February 2027 for Chinese and Vietnamese audiences, and Korean Seollal is Sunday 7 February. Go live by Wednesday 3 February, with the latest live-action shoot for first delivery on 24–27 January. A Korean-only campaign can post by Thursday 4 February, latest shoot 25–28 January. The first day for each community comes from its own official source:

• Chinese: Saturday 6 February 2027, per the Hong Kong SAR Government and the Hong Kong Observatory, which puts the 15th day on Saturday 20 February.
• Vietnamese (Tết): Saturday 6 February 2027, counted back by Dream Aspect from the Vietnam government policy portal, whose report of the approved holiday schedule makes Wednesday 10 February the fifth day.
• Korean (Seollal): Sunday 7 February 2027, per the Korea AeroSpace Administration, which reads “설날(음 1월 1일)이 2월 7일(일)”: in our translation, Seollal (lunar 1/1) is Sunday 7 February, with a four-day holiday on 6–9 February and Jeongwol Daeboreum on Sunday 21 February.

None of the calendar sources says why the dates are a day apart, so here is Dream Aspect's arithmetic. Griffith Observatory's 2027 moon table, from U.S. Naval Observatory data, puts the new moon at 07:56 PST on 6 February. That is 23:56 the same day at UTC+8 (Beijing, Hong Kong) and 22:56 at UTC+7 (Hanoi), but 00:56 on 7 February at UTC+9 (Seoul). The new moon arrives four minutes before midnight in Beijing and 56 minutes after it in Seoul, which on our reading is why Seollal falls a day later.

For content, say “Lunar New Year” when you address more than one community; “Chinese New Year” in a post for Korean or Vietnamese customers is the flattening to avoid. Post the greeting on 6 February for Chinese and Vietnamese audiences and 7 February for Korean ones. For Chinese audiences, use the Hong Kong Observatory's name for the new year, the “year of the Goat”.

How do you cast and consult so the content is not a costume?

Bring someone from the community into the brief before the script, pay and credit them, cast performers from that community, and budget a review round after the edit. Name the exact community and date, such as Seollal or Chinese New Year, Tamil Deepavali or Lakshmi Puja. Dream Aspect's own pages describe casting only in general terms, as on its UGC page: “We distribute the task among professional models and creators who can take the job.” None of the five pages checked describes multicultural casting work, so treat these as questions for any producer, Dream Aspect included:

• Who from the community reviews the script? Good answer: a named person, booked before it is final. Warning sign: “Someone will look at the cut”.
• Are advisors paid and credited? Good answer: yes, in budget and credits. Warning sign: unpaid “friends of the team”.
• Who is cast? Good answer: performers from that community. Warning sign: whoever is available.
• Is a review round after the edit scheduled? Good answer: yes, with dates. Warning sign: assumed to fit inside delivery.
• Who checks other-language captions? Good answer: a fluent reviewer. Warning sign: unchecked machine translation.

A producer who cannot answer the first question is not ready. Consultation also costs days: if advisors are not booked, every calendar date here is later than your real one, which is manageable for Lunar New Year and decisive for Día de los Muertos.

What do these dates leave out?

Everything before the shoot and after first delivery. Dream Aspect's typical 7–10 days runs from the shoot day to delivery, and its page says “Full content delivery” and “typically”. It excludes booking, advisor time, your approval round, paid re-cuts and extra-language captions, each of which moves your dates earlier. Dream Aspect publishes no booking lead time, so every latest-shoot date assumes the day can still be booked, and its pages do not say calendar or working days; working days would move these dates earlier too.

Dream Aspect's Halloween production article draws the same line: “first delivery and a completed campaign are not necessarily the same milestone”. UGC has no date in this calendar, because the UGC page publishes both “The production timeline is 14 to 30 days” and “delivered as short as 7 days”. The population figures measure ancestry and race, not observance, and the Census tables give no Jewish or Hindu share.

Planning one of these five moments from Los Angeles?

Dream Aspect is a video production company in Los Angeles. Book a half or full content day, with full content delivery typically 7–10 days after the shoot day, or brief a CGI product video, from about 2–5 days for 7–12 seconds of simple 2D to two weeks to a month for complex 3D. Tell us the holiday, the community and the date, and we will tell you whether it can still be met, or if the honest answer is no product video at all.

Want a price for one of these moments before you brief it? The Dream Aspect pricing calculator shows the price on the page: choose a one-off shoot or a monthly plan, then add or remove deliverables such as a shoot brief, priority delivery, CGI or UGC.

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