★ FeaturedOC SASA Garba
Cadence Park
NavratriEvents in Irvine 2026
Irvine's Navratri is run by the large Indian community spread across Irvine, Tustin, Aliso Viejo and the rest of central Orange County. Garba and dandiya nights are held in community centre halls, school gyms and hotel ballrooms, often with a singer and dhol section brought over from Gujarat, and the temples in the county hold nine evenings of aarti and bhajan. The universities here add student dandiya nights that are cheaper and run later than the family events. Weekend nights go first, tickets are online, and family packs are usually better value. Halls enforce socks or bare feet and close at a venue-set time, so the music ends earlier than it would in India. October in Irvine stays warm and dry, with the occasional Santa Ana evening, so full festive wear is comfortable. Driving is the only option, with the 405 and 5 slow near start times and free parking at most venues. Pioneer Boulevard in Artesia is the standard outfit stop. Listings below.
Listings updated
Featured garba nights in Irvine
- ★ Featured
Garba Events in Irvine
Warm up for garba
Get the beat in your feet before the first night in Irvine: Spotify’s Garba Nights, from dhol-heavy folk classics to the songs every circle dances to.
Before you dance
The story of Navratri
Nine nights, a goddess, two demons and one very big bonfire.
01The boon
A demon no god could kill
Mahishasura, the buffalo demon, won a boon: no man and no god could kill him. Fearless, he stormed the heavens and drove the gods from their thrones.
02The goddess
Durga rises from their light
So the gods poured their powers into one blaze, and from it rose Durga. Each gave her a weapon — Shiva his trident, Vishnu his discus — and the mountains gave her a lion.
03Nine nights
Nine nights, then victory
For nine nights she fought him as he changed shape — buffalo, lion, elephant, man — and each night of Navratri honours one of her nine forms. On the tenth, Vijayadashami, she struck him down: good over evil.
04The Ramayana
Rama prays to the goddess
Ravana carried Sita away to Lanka. In one telling, Rama worshipped Durga for her blessing before the war — then crossed the sea to bring Sita home.
05Dussehra
The ten-headed king falls
Rama's arrow brought down Ravana on the same tenth day. That is why the festival's last day is Dussehra too: one victory, told twice.
06Today
Ravana goes up in fireworks
Across north India, towering paper Ravanas are packed with crackers and lit at dusk on Dussehra — and the crowd cheers as evil burns.
And that is why we dance
Garba circles the garbo — a clay lamp, the goddess’s light at the centre of life — and the circle never stops, like time. The dandiya sticks are said to be her swords, clashing in the battle all over again.
Upcoming Navratri garba events in Irvine
| Date | Event | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| OC SASA Garba | Cadence Park, Irvine | |
| LA Garba Raas Night 2026 | Optimist Studios, Los Angeles | |
| 2026 Sargam Garba Night 2 | Soka University of America, Aliso Viejo |