How do you increase restaurant sales during Lohri, the Punjabi winter festival of the bonfire? Book the parties early, starting with first Lohri parties held for a new baby or a new bride. Host a bonfire night with a set menu, and sell gajak and rewari, the sesame and jaggery sweets of the season.
What decides your result is how early you start. A first Lohri party needs booking well ahead, and an office lunch needs your pitch by mid-December. Interest is not only in Punjab either. Searches for “sarson da saag”, the mustard greens dish at the heart of the meal, average 3,600 a month in Bengaluru, against 320 in Ludhiana.
This post is a countdown plan. It covers first Lohri parties, what to do 25 days and 10 days out, Lohri night and Maghi, and the menu. It ends with the New Year link and how your POS can help.
Key Takeaways
- Treat Lohri as a booking business. Sell the party tables in the weeks before the night, not on it.
- A first Lohri party is one of the largest bookings you can win. Take a deposit, so the date is really yours.
- The festival runs into Maghi the next day, which needs its own short menu.
How to Increase Restaurant Sales During Lohri
You increase restaurant sales during Lohri by selling an evening out: a bonfire, a Punjabi meal and space for a family party. Here is why Lohri brings people in, and why it runs over two days.
Why Lohri Fills Your Dining Room Instead of Emptying It
Lohri happens in the evening, around a fire, with food and dancing. In Jalandhar in 2023, families with a recent wedding or birth held larger celebrations.
Residents danced giddha (a women’s folk dance) and bhangra around the bonfire, The Tribune reported. People ate sarson da saag with makki di roti (maize flour flatbread) and gur (jaggery).
A restaurant can host all of that. It has the space, the kitchen and the staff that a family party needs. So on Lohri, a restaurant can be the venue itself.
Interest also reaches far beyond Punjab. The chart below shows average monthly Google searches for “sarson da saag” by city. The figures come from Google search data, pulled on 16 October 2026.
Search interest is not the same as sales, but it shows the dish has a following well outside Punjab. So a Punjabi restaurant in Koramangala or Andheri has a Lohri audience to pitch to as well.
Why Lohri and Maghi are a Two-Day Business (13 and 14 January)
Lohri usually falls on the evening of 13 January. The next day is Maghi, the first day of the Punjabi month of Magh, The Tribune explains. A fair called the Maghi Mela is held at Muktsar Sahib every year, in memory of 40 Sikh martyrs, the same report adds.
So plan stock and staff for both days. Lohri night is your big sale. Maghi needs a different, shorter menu, covered later in this post.
Why First Lohri Is the Biggest Booking of the Season
A first Lohri party is a family booking that is planned and paid for well in advance, with a long guest list. Here is what it is, how to find the families, how to price the party and how to lock in the date.
What a First Lohri Party Is and Why Families Spend More on It
A first Lohri is the first Lohri after a baby is born or a couple is married. The family invites relatives and neighbours to bless the child or the bride. That is why the guest list is long and the spend is high.
Families mark it with a bigger celebration than a normal Lohri, as the Tribune’s Jalandhar report showed. The custom was long kept for newborn sons. Societies and NGOs in Jalandhar held first Lohri celebrations for daughters too, the same report said.
How to Find the Families Who Will Host a First Lohri This Year
The families who will host a first Lohri are the ones who had a wedding or a birth this year. Some of them have already eaten at your restaurant.
- Check your own bookings. A family that booked a wedding lunch or a baby shower with you this year may host one.
- Put it on the bill. A short card on every bill from November says you take first Lohri party bookings.
- Talk to local planners. Tent houses, decorators and dhol (drum) players can point you to families planning one.
How to Price a First Lohri Party Menu (With an Example)
Price a first Lohri party per head, from your cost. Include the bonfire, the decor and the dhol in that price, so the family sees one figure.
Here is the cost per head for a 60-guest party at a restaurant in Model Town, Jalandhar (an example):
| First Lohri Party Cost per Head | Amount |
|---|---|
| Food (set menu with saag, makki di roti and dessert) | ₹340 |
| Bonfire wood and decor, shared | ₹60 |
| Dhol player, shared | ₹50 |
| Service staff and gas | ₹70 |
| Total cost | ₹520 |
| Price per head | ₹850 |
| What you keep per head | ₹330 |
At 60 guests, that is ₹51,000 in sales and ₹19,800 kept. The ₹850 is before GST, so add the rate that applies to your restaurant on top. Our guide to menu pricing shows how to set the margin on your own costs.
How to Take a First Lohri Booking With a Deposit
Take a deposit when the family books, so the date is held for them and not for the next caller. In the 60-guest Jalandhar example, a 30% deposit on ₹51,000 is ₹15,300.
- Confirm the date, the time slot and the guest count.
- Take the deposit and send a written confirmation.
- Agree the final guest count by 6 January, so you can order food.
- Collect the balance on the night.
Write your cancellation rule on the confirmation, so there is no argument later.
What to Do 25 Days Before Lohri to Increase Sales
Around 19 December, set up the bonfire night and the set menu, and follow up on your office pitches. These take the longest to arrange, so they come first.
How to Plan a Lohri Night at Your Restaurant With a Bonfire
A Lohri night is a ticketed or set-menu evening around a bonfire. Plan it as an event, with a start time, a set menu and a fixed number of seats.
- Pick the space. A terrace, lawn or courtyard, well clear of the building.
- Plan the music. A dhol player, and space for bhangra and giddha.
- Plan the offerings. Guests throw groundnuts, gajak and rewari into the fire, as the Jalandhar report cited earlier noted. Keep small bowls ready at each table.
What Fire Safety Permission You Need for a Bonfire
There is no single national bonfire permit. Fire safety law is made by each state, so ask your local fire office before you plan the night.
In Punjab, the Punjab Fire and Emergency Service Act, 2024 covers fire prevention and life safety. It also covers pandals. These are tents and sheds made of cloth, canvas and the like.
In Haryana, fire officers in Karnal acted in January 2022. They gave 28 hotels, restaurants and banquet halls one week to get a fire No Objection Certificate (NOC), The Tribune reported.
Check three things with the fire office. Does your current fire NOC cover an open fire outside? Do you need separate permission for one evening? And what conditions do they set? Whatever they say, keep water and an extinguisher next to the fire, and give one staff member the job of watching it all night.
How to Build a Lohri Set Menu Around Makki di Roti and Sarson da Saag
Build your Lohri set menu around makki di roti (maize flour flatbread) and sarson da saag (mustard greens), the two dishes guests expect. Then add the sweets that go with the fire.
- Main: sarson da saag, makki di roti, white butter and gur (jaggery).
- Sides: a dal, a paneer dish and a salad for guests who want more.
- Sweets: gajak, rewari, til laddu (sesame laddus) and gur ki kheer (rice pudding with jaggery).
A set menu also helps your kitchen. It cooks a few dishes in bulk instead of 40 different orders.
How to Get Corporate Lohri Party Bookings
Some offices mark Lohri with a staff lunch or an evening event. Is your restaurant near offices in Mohali, Gurugram or Noida? Then pitch to the admin or HR team by mid-December, before their plans are made.
Offer a fixed price per head, a set menu and one time slot.
Make it easy to say yes. Send one page with the menu, the price, the space and the date you need an answer by. Then give a proper GST invoice with the company’s GSTIN on it, so their accounts team can book the expense.
What to Do 10 Days Before Lohri to Increase Sales
Around 3 January, fill the seats still open and get the team and the space ready. Here is how to message guests, win colony orders, sell gift packs, set up the outdoor area and plan the roster.
How to Fill Your Lohri Night Bookings on WhatsApp
Message your regulars with the Lohri night menu, the price and the seats left. A message that says “18 seats left” gives a reason to book now.
Start with families and groups who have eaten with you recently. Our guide to customer relationship management (CRM) reports shows how to find them. Send one reminder three days before Lohri.
How to Get Society and Colony Bonfire Catering Orders
Many housing societies and colonies hold their own Lohri bonfire. The residents in the Tribune’s Jalandhar report held a joint colony function with a shared meal. That is one large catering order.
Reach the society committee or the residents’ WhatsApp group in early January. Offer a per-head price for saag, makki di roti and sweets, with one delivery time. Our guide to food catering covers how to run larger orders like these.
How to Sell Gajak, Rewari and Til Gift Packs Before Lohri
Gajak and rewari are the sweets of the season, eaten at Lohri and given as gifts. Searches for “gajak” rose from 74,000 in November 2025 to 90,500 in December and 1,10,000 in January 2026, according to Google search data. Those searches cover the whole winter, not Lohri alone, so start selling early.
Sell small gift packs for families and larger boxes for offices. Keep the packs at the billing counter right up to Lohri. Offer a box price to the same companies that book your Lohri lunch.
How to Add Outdoor Seating and Heating for Lohri Week
January evenings in north India are cold, so outdoor seating needs heat. Add patio heaters or covered seating, and blankets on the chairs.
Keep heaters well away from the bonfire. Our guide to a cosy outdoor dining area has more ideas for winter seating.
How to Make a Lohri Staff Roster in Punjab and Haryana
In Punjab and Haryana, your own staff want their family bonfire too. Fix the roster now, before people start asking for leave.
Keep your full team on Lohri night, your biggest sale, and give each person staggered time off on Maghi instead, so the Maghi lunch is still covered. Pay a festival incentive to those who work Lohri night. Our guide to the restaurant duty roster shows a format you can copy.
What to Do on Lohri Night and Maghi (13 and 14 January)
On the night, keep the seatings moving and the fire safe. The next day, switch to a short Maghi menu. Here is how to run both days.
How to Run a Lohri Night Without Losing Table Turnover
Run Lohri night in two seatings, not one long evening. A 7 pm seating and a 9:30 pm seating fill the same tables twice.
- Serve the set menu fast. Bill each set menu as one item, so each kitchen order ticket (KOT) carries one line. Brief the kitchen on what the set contains before service.
- Time the bonfire. Plan the dancing for each seating’s slot, so the evening has a clear end for the first group.
- Tell guests the slot when they book, so nobody is surprised.
The gap between seatings is what makes the plan work. Our guide to reducing customer wait time has more ways to keep tables moving.
What to Serve on Maghi When Families Eat Out Again
Maghi is a day of gurdwara visits for many. Devotees gather at gurdwaras, and langars (free community kitchens) are held that day, the Tribune’s Maghi report noted. So put your effort into lunch and an early dinner rather than breakfast.
Keep the Maghi menu short and warm: leftover saag can become a lunch special, with khichdi, kadhi and kheer alongside. Sell the last of your gajak and rewari packs at the counter.
How to Handle Walk-Ins After Society Bonfires End
When a society or colony bonfire ends, some groups may want dinner out. Hold back a few tables on Lohri night for these late walk-ins.
Quote an honest wait time at the door, and offer a short walk-in menu that the kitchen can serve fast. Our guide to balancing table bookings and walk-ins covers how to split your tables.
What to Put on a Lohri Menu
A Lohri menu is built on winter Punjabi food: saag, makki di roti, gur and the sesame sweets. Here is what guests look for and when to buy for it.
Which Lohri Dishes to Put on Your Restaurant Menu
The dishes below are the ones guests look for. We have no sales figures by dish, so search data is the closest public signal. In January 2026, “gajak” drew 1,10,000 searches in India, “sarson da saag” 90,500 and “makki di roti” 33,100, by the same Google search data.
The meal itself is not in doubt. “A traditional dinner of sarson da saag and makke di roti is what most Punjabis relish at the time of Lohri,” Swarajya wrote from Amritsar.
| Lohri Dish | What It Is | Where It Fits on Your Menu |
|---|---|---|
| Sarson da saag | Mustard greens cooked slowly with spices | Main of the set menu |
| Makki di roti | Flatbread made from maize flour | With the saag, with white butter |
| Gajak | Sesame and jaggery sweet | Dessert and gift packs |
| Rewari | Small sesame and jaggery candies | Bonfire bowls and gift packs |
| Gur ki kheer | Rice pudding sweetened with jaggery | Dessert, and the Maghi menu |
Put the saag and makki di roti at the centre of every Lohri combo, and use the sweets as add-ons.
When to Buy Mustard Greens and Makki Flour for Lohri
Mustard greens and maize flour are in demand across Punjabi kitchens in the same few weeks, so prices may rise. We found no published market figures for how much they move, so we give no number here.
What you can control is when you commit. Agree amounts and a price with your supplier in December, based on your bookings. Then confirm the final order once party guest counts are fixed, around 6 January.
How to Turn New Year Bookings Into Lohri Bookings
New Year’s Eve and Lohri are less than two weeks apart, and they share one customer list. Here is how to turn New Year guests into Lohri bookings.
Guests who book a table on 31 December have already shown they eat out for an occasion. A Lohri card on that bill and one message on 2 January reach them before they make their Lohri plans, while seats for both seatings are still open.
- Add the Lohri night date to your New Year’s Eve bill card.
- Message New Year guests on 2 January with the Lohri menu and the seats left.
- Offer New Year guests first pick of the early Lohri night seating.
Our guide to New Year’s Eve sales covers the countdown before it. In south India the same week is Pongal, and our guide to Pongal sales covers it.
How Petpooja Helps You Sell and Manage Lohri
Petpooja‘s restaurant POS helps you increase restaurant sales during Lohri. It supports you from the first party booking to the report check after Maghi. Here is how it helps you book, market and review.
How to Manage Lohri Bookings and Party Deposits
The Reservation Manager app takes, cancels and tracks table bookings. It runs with the Local and Electron versions. Use it for both of your Lohri night seatings.
Record each first Lohri party, office booking and society order as an advance order. On the Android POS, the screen and the printed bill show the amount paid and the balance still due. So your staff know at once what to collect on the night.
How to Market Your Lohri Night to Past Guests
The CRM tool keeps the customers from your bills. Build a segment of your party customers, and send an SMS campaign with your Lohri night menu. SMS marketing runs on the Android and Electron versions.
For WhatsApp, use Petpooja’s marketing automation tool, Marketing Manager. Pick one of its ready-made festival templates and add your Lohri night menu, the price and the seats left. It groups your customers by behaviour, such as loyal, at-risk and inactive. So invite loyal regulars first, and send a reminder to guests who have not visited in a while.
It can also send return-visit messages on its own after the festival. Its dashboard shows the WhatsApp read rate, so you know how many people saw the invite. Marketing Manager works on every version but Local. A restaurant marketing app can design the menu for social media.
What to Check in Your Reports After Maghi
On 15 January, check your reports:
- Sales by item, to see how many set menus and gift packs sold.
- The Advance Order Summary, to see every party and society order, with the customer.
- Hourly item-wise sales, to see how much each seating sold.
On the morning after Lohri, you can also ask the “Ask Me Anything!” AI assistant: “What were my top-selling items yesterday?”
What I could recommend from my end. Add the Lohri set menu and every gift pack as their own items before the first booking comes in. Then the hourly item-wise report shows how each seating sold. The Advance Order Summary also becomes next year’s list of families and offices to call first.
Conclusion
You increase restaurant sales during Lohri by selling the evening early. Win first Lohri parties with a deposit, fill a bonfire night with a set menu, and pitch offices by mid-December.
Then plan for two days. Lohri night needs two seatings and a safe fire. Maghi needs a short, warm menu for lunch and an early dinner.
Set up every booking and set menu before the rush. Your restaurant POS then shows which part of your Lohri plan earned the most.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes. Never light an open fire indoors. Use a flameless bonfire centrepiece with warm restaurant lighting for photos. Put the money into the food, the dhol and the music. The meal and the company are what guests book for.
Yes. A family living in Bengaluru, Mumbai or Pune may want to host it where they live now. Ask what the family wants from home, such as saag, makki di roti and a dhol, and build the party around that.
Keep a covered space ready as a backup. If rain or fog stops the bonfire, move the meal and the dhol indoors, and tell guests by message before they leave home.
