One of the best ways to gain an understanding of the city’s culture is to attend the various fairs and festivals organized there. Year around there are many exciting and multicolored fairs and festivals in Jaipur that are full of festivity, celebration, and gaiety.
DSC Jaipur Literary Festival
The connoisseurs of books simply love this five-day fest held every year in January. You can meet world-renowned literary figures, writers, poets, playwrights, artists, and journalists from around the world that grace the city. There are back-to-back parallel sessions on various current issues capsizing with great food and a musical evening with several noted musicians and live band performances.
Ladli
Ladli is a vocational training center or a charity home for orphaned children. Managed by the government of India, it caters to the basic needs of living, education, food, and training for those little angels. It is not exactly a touristy place, but spending time with the children and touching their lives rejuvenates you from within. You can buy handicrafts or jewelry from here as the money collected would be utilized for the maintenance of this institution.
Teej Festival
Teej is one of the most colorful festivals of Jaipur, which is celebrated in the whole state with full joy and excitement. The festival is celebrated to welcome the Monsoon. Teej is basically the fest of women (married women), on this day they worship for the long life of their husbands. The festival is marked by many preparations like buying new clothes, applying Mehendi, singing songs and taking rides on the swings. The local bazaars are also decorated with draping swings and flowers and hanging them from trees.
Kite Festival
Celebrated on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, it is one of the popular festivals of Jaipur. On this kite flying day, people irrespective of their ages fly kites from dawn to dusk. One can see designer kites and kites of varied colors and sizes enveloping the blue sky.
Elephant Festival
Elephant Festival, which is held in the month of march on the eve of Holi has several attractions including elephant polo. The elephants are decorated traditionally with bright colored clothes and heavy jewelry. There is held a royal rally of elephant, horses, camels and folk dancers. The center stage of this celebration is Chaugan, the old stadium at Jaipur.
Gangaur
Coinciding with the festival of Holi, this festival is marked with several cultural events such as dance, music, elephant parade, beauty contest of elephants and many more. On this festival, women worship the idol of Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati, while those who are unmarried, pray for a consort.
Vintage car rally
Watching a Vintage car rally is a must amongst things to do in Jaipur for car aficionados as well as laymen. Held in the February month the ‘Rajputana’ Sports Car Club organizes a vintage and classic car rally in association with the department of tourism. Ringing a royal spirit, it displays more than 100 vintage cars which date back to the era of the Maharajas who reigned over the Jaipur city. All these cars altogether cruise along the roads of the Pink City.