Ordering around Dashain and Tihar

Every year, the same thing happens. A hospital realises in the third week of September that it needs new uniforms before Dashain, and every supplier in the country is already at capacity.

The festival season is not a surprise. It is the most predictable event in the Nepali calendar, and it still catches people out because the deadline moves each year.

Three things happen at once.

Factories slow down or close for several days. Even the units that stay open run with reduced staff, because people travel home. Output in the fortnight around Dashain is a fraction of a normal fortnight.

Courier networks saturate. Parcels that normally take two days take four, and the hill routes take longer still.

Buyers who planned ahead take delivery in the quiet weeks, which means the weeks just before the festival are the busiest of the year.

The practical rule is simple. If you need uniforms in October, order in August. If you need them for a new intake in November, order in September.

Tihar and Chhath follow close behind, and in the Madhesh districts Chhath is the bigger logistical event. A unit in Dhanusha plans around it the way a unit in Kathmandu plans around Dashain.

We flag this every year because it is the one delay nobody can blame on the supplier. The calendar is public.

If you are reading this in the quiet season, that is the right time to have the conversation.