Seasonal ASO calendar 2026–27: festivals and events to plan your Play Store offers
A month-by-month calendar of festivals and shopping events from October 2026 to September 2027 — Diwali, Christmas, Lunar New Year, Ramadan and Eid, Holi, Easter and more — with which apps each suits and a 3-week campaign plan.
Key takeaways
- Plan each campaign about 3 weeks before the event.
- Only run events that genuinely fit your app and audience.
- Use custom store listings, a festive first screenshot and Play promotional content, then revert after the event.
- Islamic dates and some Hindu dates depend on moon sighting and can shift by a day.
Search behaviour follows the calendar. Fitness apps peak in January, gifting and shopping around Diwali and Black Friday, devotional apps during Lent and Ramadan. Apps that prepare a seasonal listing and a relevant offer in advance capture that demand; apps that react on the day miss most of it.
The calendar (October 2026 – September 2027)
| Dates | Event | Main markets | Best-fit apps |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11–20 Oct 2026 | Navratri | India | Devotional, fashion, music and dance |
| 20 Oct 2026 | Dussehra / Durga Puja | India, Bangladesh, Nepal | Shopping, finance, greetings |
| 1–2 Nov 2026 | All Saints’ / All Souls’ | Christian audiences | Faith, prayer, saints |
| 6–10 Nov 2026 | Diwali (main day 8 Nov) | India, Nepal, diaspora | Shopping, finance, games, photo, greetings |
| 11 Nov 2026 | 11.11 Singles’ Day | Southeast Asia | Shopping, finance, fashion |
| 27–30 Nov 2026 | Black Friday → Cyber Monday | Global | Any paid app (annual-plan deals) |
| 29 Nov – 24 Dec 2026 | Advent | Christian audiences | Faith, daily readings, reminders |
| Dec 2026 | Christmas | Global | Gifting, games, photo, family, faith |
| 26 Dec – mid-Jan | New Year resolutions | Global | Fitness, habits, learning, finance, productivity |
| 6 Feb 2027 | Lunar New Year | SEA, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan | Games, finance, social, travel |
| ~8 Feb – 9 Mar 2027 | Ramadan (moon sighting) | Muslim-majority markets | Prayer, Quran, recipes, charity |
| 10 Feb – 25 Mar 2027 | Lent | Christian audiences | Faith, reflection, fasting |
| ~9–10 Mar 2027 | Eid al-Fitr (moon sighting) | Muslim-majority markets | Shopping, fashion, greetings, travel |
| 22–23 Mar 2027 | Holi | India, Nepal | Photo, social, music |
| 21–28 Mar 2027 | Holy Week & Easter | Christian audiences | Faith, family, food |
| ~16 May 2027 | Eid al-Adha (moon sighting) | Muslim-majority markets | Greetings, travel |
| Jul–Sep 2027 | Back to school | US, UK, EU, AU | Education, planners, productivity |
Does this event fit your app?
Not every big event is right for every app. A Bible app should focus on Advent, Christmas, Lent and Easter — not Diwali. A finance app benefits from Diwali and Black Friday; a fitness app from New Year. Running an unrelated or culturally inappropriate campaign can do more harm than good.
A 3-week campaign plan
| When | Actions |
|---|---|
| 3 weeks before | Choose the offer (discount, trial extension or themed content tied to a real feature); draft copy |
| 2 weeks before | Design a festive first screenshot; prepare a custom store listing variant; submit Play promotional content |
| 1 week before | Go live with the listing variant and in-app message; share on your channels with tracked links |
| During | Watch conversion and keyword positions; reply to reviews quickly |
| After | Revert to the standard listing; record what worked for next year |
- Respect religious and cultural meaning.
- Tie the offer to a real feature.
- Localize copy for each market.
- Revert after the event.
- Use sacred symbols as decoration for a sale.
- Run every event for every app.
- Make claims you can’t back up.
- Leave festive assets up for months.
+How early should I prepare a seasonal campaign?
About three weeks before the event, so assets and promotional content are live before demand peaks.
+Should I change my main listing for festivals?
Often a custom store listing or a temporary screenshot change is safer than rewriting the main listing. Revert after the event.
+Why do some dates say “approximately”?
Islamic festivals depend on moon sighting, so the exact day can differ by one day between countries.
Practise this lesson on your app.
Track keywords, run the listing audit and see what your changes do — free.