Diwali 2026 Preparations: Ayodhya Readies 3 Million Lamps for Saturday as Leicester Moves Its Festival to the Park

The target tops last year's record. Argus News reported in September, citing IANS, that Deepotsav 2025 lit 26,17,215 diyas and set two Guinness World Records, for the largest display of oil lamps and for the most people performing simultaneous diya rotations, and that this year's preparations at Ram Ki Paidi and the other ghats, from painting to lamp-making, were being handled with help from students and volunteers of Avadh University. Divisional commissioner Rajesh Kumar said the aim was an event grander than any previous edition. The figures are the government's own, and like every Deepotsav number they will be counted on the night.

What is happening in Leicester for Diwali 2026?

The city's Diwali Day celebration on Sunday 8 November moves to Cossington Recreation Ground, with dance, music and cultural performances on a stage, food vendors, arts and crafts stalls and a children's funfair. Leicester City Council announced the plan in May after the 2025 celebrations were scaled back over concerns raised by the local Safety Advisory Group, which had named the public fireworks display as its primary worry because of crowd congestion. There will be no public fireworks this year. The Wheel of Light returns to Belgrave Road, rangoli artwork goes on show at Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre, and the Diwali lights were to be switched on without a ceremony two weeks before the day.

Councillor Vi Dempster, the assistant city mayor for culture, said Diwali would always be a huge part of Leicester's cultural calendar and that the council wanted to welcome safely the many people who want to join in. Graham Callister, the council's head of festivals, said the safety group had approved the proposals in principle subject to a formal event management plan. A visitor guide drawing on the council's published 2026 programme lists the main stage from 5pm to 8.30pm, a Diwali Village from 3pm to 9pm and Belgrave Road closed to traffic from 5pm until about 9.30pm on the day.

What the two cities say about Diwali in 2026

Ayodhya's festival is now a state production, with drones, lasers and what the tourism department calls musical green fireworks alongside the lamps. Leicester's is a civic one, and its lesson from 2025 is that a street party can outgrow its street. Moving the stage into a park and dropping the fireworks will disappoint some regulars, but it is the version of the festival the safety advisers were willing to sign.

The lamps go on in Ayodhya on Saturday evening and the Leicester stage opens on Sunday afternoon. For anyone planning to be at either, the advice from both sets of organisers is the same: check the programme, arrive early and expect the roads around the riverfront and Belgrave Road to be closed.