Festivals in India aren’t just dates on a calendar, they’re moving carnivals of sound, taste, and emotion. Streets turn into stages, food becomes a religion, and dance is the default setting. It’s also the time when brands roll up their sleeves and try to squeeze into our collective nostalgia. Some fail spectacularly, some fade unnoticed, but a few carve themselves into memory.

Looking back, certain Durga Puja and Navratri campaigns weren’t just ads, they became experiences that captured the pulse of the season.

Swiggy’s Floating Pandal

Durga Puja bhog isn’t just about khichudi and laddoos, it’s about inclusion. Swiggy’s “Bhog Elo Bon(e)y” campaign sent a floating pandal through the Sundarbans, carrying bhog to marginalized tiger widows who rarely get to celebrate. It wasn’t advertising, it was empathy sailing on a boat.

Pulse Candy’s Roadshow of Rituals

Pulse didn’t just ride the festive buzz; it built its own festival. With #PulseKaPandal, the brand, hit the roads of Bengal, recording stories, rituals, and art across 22 towns. It was sweet, sour, spicy, just like the candy itself.

Zomato’s Street Food Alpana

Durga Puja means eating like there’s no tomorrow, and Zomato leaned right in. They painted a 300-meter Alpana folk art that doubled as a map to the city’s most loved street food vendors. A brand literally laying out the feast path? That’s culture meeting commerce in style.

Flipkart’s Garba Billboard

Sometimes all it takes is wit. Flipkart’s billboard spun like a Garba circle with the line, “Go in circles only for Navratri, not for Navratri essentials.” A playful reminder that the festival is chaotic enough, your shopping doesn’t have to be.

Air India Express Takes Off With Textiles

When most brands were making pandals, Air India Express painted its aircraft tails with Jamdani and Kantha motifs. Suddenly, flights out of Kolkata weren’t just flights, they were cultural exports. A moving tribute to Bengal’s textile heritage at 30,000 feet.

Dabur Chyawanprash With Dada

No Puja in Bengal feels complete without Sourav Ganguly, and Dabur knew it. With AI-powered personalized greetings, “Pujo with Dada” made supplements sound like family blessings. It was part fandom, part festivity, all heart.

Why These Campaigns Still Shine

Festivals are noisy. But the campaigns that last, the ones worth a throwback are those that cut through the glitter and grab the soul. Swiggy chose empathy, Zomato chose heritage, Air India Express chose pride, Dabur chose nostalgia.

Because festivals in India aren’t just celebrated; they’re lived. And the brands that got remembered weren’t the loudest, they were the ones that joined the dance, fed the hungry, honored the culture, and reminded us why these nine nights and five days matter so much.

That’s the thing about festive campaigns: the best ones don’t just sell during the season. They become part of the season.