A dry day is a date on which shops, bars, pubs, hotels and restaurants in India may not sell alcohol. There are a couple of dozen of them a year, and three are national: Republic Day on 26 January, Independence Day on 15 August and Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October. On those evenings, someone in a group chat usually asks at 8pm whether it is a dry day. You can avoid that last-minute worry with a little planning, and this guide explains how the dates work.
Quick answers
Is 2 October a dry day in Bangalore? Yes. Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October is one of the three national dry days, so it is a dry day in Bangalore, Mumbai and the rest of India.
Is 25 December a dry day? Christmas Day is not one of the three national dry days. It appears on some state lists, so the answer depends on the state you are in.
When is the next national dry day? After Gandhi Jayanti on 2 October 2026, the next national dry day is Republic Day on 26 January 2027. Some states also list dates in between, such as Diwali or Christmas Day, and any election adds more.
Is it a dry day in Bangalore today? If today is 26 January, 15 August or 2 October, it is. On any other date, the answer depends on Karnataka's own list and on whether an election is being held nearby, so check the notifications of the Karnataka excise department.
Is Bangalore a dry state? No. Karnataka is not a dry state. Alcohol is sold there on every day except its dry days.
Do bars serve alcohol on dry days? No. A dry day applies to bars, pubs, hotels and restaurants as well as to liquor shops.
What a dry day is
A dry day is a date on which the sale of alcohol is prohibited at liquor shops, bars, pubs, hotels and restaurants. It is an instruction from the excise department to licensed sellers, not a rule about your own fridge. We set out that distinction, with its source, on our numbers page. The dates mark national days, major religious festivals and election polling.
The three national dry days
Republic Day (26 January), Independence Day (15 August) and Gandhi Jayanti (2 October) are observed nationally. These three surprise even well-organised people, because each one often comes with a long weekend, and that is exactly when everyone makes plans.
Other dry days depend on your state
Beyond those three, dry days are a state matter, and the number varies widely. One 2026 calendar puts the national and state-level total at approximately 21 to 26 days across the year. It notes that Maharashtra alone observes 16 to 18 of them, including Mumbai-specific restrictions around Ambedkar Jayanti on 14 April (StayVista's 2026 dry day calendar). Festivals that commonly appear on state lists include Holi, Eid ul-Fitr, Diwali and Christmas Day. Kerala's list is longer in election years.
Election days are dry days too
Polling days are dry days, and the restriction window can extend to the 48 hours before polls close. These dates often take people by surprise, because they are not on any annual calendar. They are set only when the election schedule is announced. If your state is voting, check before you plan anything involving a bar.
Always check the local calendar
A dry day in Bangalore is not the same as a dry day in Mumbai or Gurgaon. Your state excise department's notification is the authority. Every list of dry days, including this one, is a summary of those notifications. If you are travelling for a wedding or a long weekend, check the list for the place you are going to, not the list for your home city.
Non-alcoholic beer and dry days
Dry-day orders restrict the sale of liquor by excise-licensed vendors. India's food regulations count a drink as an alcoholic beverage when it has more than 0.5% ABV, but excise law is a state subject, and whether a dry-day order covers a drink under 0.5% ABV depends on your state's rules. What we will not say is that it is fine everywhere on every dry day. Excise rules are a state subject and they change, and on a public holiday individual shops and venues make their own decisions, whatever the rules permit. If the exact legal position matters to you, ask your state excise department, not a beer company's blog.
Three ways people handle a dry day
Here they are, in order from the least planning to the most.
Buy the day before. Many people rush to buy alcohol on the eve of a dry day. Liquor shops all over India are very crowded on 25 January, and you will spend a long time in the queue.
Cook instead. Dry days fall on holidays, and holidays are the best food days of the year. A four-hour lunch is a better plan than a rushed round of drinks.
Keep good drinks in the fridge. This is the least exciting option, but it works. Stock the fridge ahead of time with drinks that do not depend on a liquor shop being open.
Stocking the fridge for a dry day
This takes ten minutes of planning, and it helps three or four times a year. Keep a couple of non-alcoholic beers for the people who want the ritual and the bitterness of a beer. Keep soda water, fresh limes and salt, because a fresh nimbu soda made to order tastes better than anything premixed. Keep cold brew or good filter coffee for the evening, because people tend to feel tired around 5pm on a long holiday afternoon. Chill everything properly, because a warm can is not pleasant, whatever is in it.
What to drink with dry-day food
Republic Day, Independence Day and Gandhi Jayanti all come with long lunches and far too much food, which makes pairing easy. A crisp lager goes with anything fried, any spread of street food and most snack tables. A hazy IPA is the one for biryani and the spiciest dishes on the menu. Its fruity hop flavour cools chilli heat far better than a strong beer does, because alcohol makes the burn of chilli stronger. A Belgian wit goes with brunch and anything lemony. A stout is the one to order with dessert. There is a longer version in the SOMA food pairing guide.
A note for restaurants and venues
Dry days are the worst revenue days on your calendar, and where your state's rules allow it, the non-alcoholic list is the only page of the drinks menu that still works. Venues that list a real non-alcoholic beer next to their soft drinks, with tasting notes and at a speciality price rather than a soft-drink price, turn a quiet evening into a normal one. We explain how to build that list in building the non-alcoholic menu. Wholesale prices begin at ₹99 a can, and you can start that conversation on our page for businesses.
When you can get SOMA
Production starts after December 2026, so SOMA's first batch will arrive after that. That means we cannot help you on any dry day in 2026. We are taking pre-orders now, but nothing ships before 1 January 2027, and it could be later, because the date depends on how the first batches turn out.
If you want to be in that first group, join the Founding Fifty. It is a group of fifty people in Bangalore who will get the first cans we pour and can talk directly to the brewers. Joining is free, there is nothing to pay, and you must be 18 or over. If all you wanted was a reminder, here it is: a well-stocked fridge works whether or not our can is in it.
Brewed bold. No hangovers.
Production starts after December 2026. The fifty people on our Founding Fifty list will taste the first batch before anyone else. Joining the list is free, and there is nothing to pay today.
18+ · Under 0.5% ABV
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