National holidays in Uzbekistan Independence Day: September 1. Concerts and fireworks to celebrate the end of the Soviet Union, and the beginning of Uzbekistan. What’s open on this day is still a matter of debate. Please chime in if you find out!
Uzbek Flag Day: November 8. Celebrating the national flag with a festival and concerts.
Constitution Day: December 8. Another nation-building, leader-glorifying moment with concerts and the like.
Large staged performances in historic places? Must be Independence Day in Uzbekistan!
Folk culture festivals
Navruz: March 21. Central Asia’s New Year. The whole region welcomes springtime with song, dance and good food. In Uzbekistan, family celebrations and street parties are a natural part of the day. Traditional games like kukpari will be on show around this time.
Boysun Bahori (Boysun Spring): Boysun, April. The small town of Boysun is the locus of this festival of traditional games, song, dance, arts and crafts. It’s a nice all-in-one package if you want to experience the traditional pastimes, in a rural area of Uzbekistan near the Tajik border. Dates and other practical details gathered in this forum thread.
Party in Boysun
Silk and Spice festival: Bukhara, May. Mostly a shopping and arts and crafts festival, with some concerts thrown in.
Sharq Tarolanari: Samarkand, August. Big international ethnic music festival, held biennially in uneven years in front of the Registan.
Handicrafter festival: Kokand, September. Similar to Bukhara’s Silk and Spice festival. Fantastic backdrop for your music festival: Sharq Tarolanari in front of the Registan
Other festivals
If you are not into handicrafts and traditional dances, fear not! Uzbekistan has something for you too.
Chimgan Extreme: February, Chimgan. Winter sports festival near Tashkent.
Chimgan’s Echo festival: Chimgan, first week of June. Cozy atmosphere at this outdoor music festival for singer-songwriters. Also includes a mountainbike downhill race.
Beer festival: Tashkent, June. Tashkent might not be the beer destination of choice for the experts, but this festival nonetheless features lots of drinking and fun.
Dance Music Fest: changeable dates. The biggest dance music festival in Uzbekistan, organised in Tashkent (Facebook page). There is also the Stihia Festival in the Aral desert.