November 2026 Important Dates: How Many Days Until Election Day, Diwali, GTA VI, Thanksgiving and Black Friday

November 2026 opens with the clock change on Sunday, Nov. 1 and closes with Cyber Monday on Nov. 30. In between come Election Day on Nov. 3, Diwali on Nov. 8, Veterans Day on Nov. 11, the launch of Grand Theft Auto VI on Nov. 19 and Thanksgiving on Thursday, Nov. 26. The countdowns below are counted from Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, the day this story was published.

November 2026 important dates

Date	Day	What happens	Days from Oct. 19
Nov. 1	Sunday	Daylight saving time ends at 2 a.m.; All Saints’ Day	13
Nov. 2	Monday	Day of the Dead (Día de los Muertos); All Souls’ Day	14
Nov. 3	Tuesday	Election Day	15
Nov. 5	Thursday	Guy Fawkes Night in the U.K.	17
Nov. 6	Friday	Dhanteras, first day of Diwali	18
Nov. 8	Sunday	Diwali and Lakshmi Puja	20
Nov. 10	Tuesday	Bhai Dooj, last day of Diwali	22
Nov. 11	Wednesday	Veterans Day (federal holiday); Remembrance Day in Canada and the U.K.	23
Nov. 19	Thursday	Grand Theft Auto VI launches	31
Nov. 24	Tuesday	Beaver Moon, full at 9:53 a.m. EST	36
Nov. 25	Wednesday	Day before Thanksgiving, a peak travel day	37
Nov. 26	Thursday	Thanksgiving Day (federal holiday)	38
Nov. 27	Friday	Black Friday	39
Nov. 29	Sunday	First Sunday of Advent	41
Nov. 30	Monday	Cyber Monday	42

To count from a different day, take the days left in the current month and add the date you are counting to. From Oct. 19 there are 12 days left in October, so Nov. 8 is 12 + 8 = 20 days away.

The first week: clocks, ballots and Diwali

Nov. 1, clocks fall back. At 2 a.m. on Sunday, Nov. 1, most of the U.S. returns to standard time. Sunsets jump about an hour earlier, to 4:44 p.m. in New York by Nov. 8. Our daylight saving time report covers the change and the stalled bill to make daylight time permanent.

Nov. 3, Election Day. Polls open across the country for federal, state and local races. Texas early voting runs through Friday, Oct. 30. Our guide to finding your sample ballot by address explains why a ZIP code alone can show the wrong races.

Nov. 5. Searches for this date are rising, but no single U.S. event explains them. It is Guy Fawkes Night in Britain, and several video games are scheduled for release that day.

Nov. 6 to 10, Diwali. The five days run from Dhanteras on Friday to Bhai Dooj on Tuesday, with Lakshmi Puja on Sunday evening, Nov. 8. Our Diwali 2026 guide lists evening puja times for 12 U.S. cities.

Mid-month: Veterans Day and a big game launch

Veterans Day falls on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Federal offices, banks and post offices close, while most stores stay open. Our Veterans Day story lists what is open.

Rockstar Games says Grand Theft Auto VI comes out on Thursday, Nov. 19 for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S, after two delays. Players who pre-order a digital copy can start pre-loading on Nov. 12, the company says.

Thanksgiving week

The full Beaver Moon peaks on Tuesday, Nov. 24 at 9:53 a.m. Eastern, according to the U.S. Naval Observatory, so the evenings of Nov. 23 and 24 are best for viewing. Wednesday, Nov. 25 is the day before Thanksgiving and one of the heaviest travel days of the year.

Thanksgiving is Thursday, Nov. 26. It is always the fourth Thursday of November, which can fall anywhere from Nov. 22 to Nov. 28; our Thanksgiving explainer explains the rule. Black Friday follows on Nov. 27, and Cyber Monday on Nov. 30. Advent begins on Sunday, Nov. 29, four Sundays before Christmas.

Deadlines that run into December

Deadline	Date
Medicare open enrollment ends	Monday, Dec. 7
Federal government funding runs out	Friday, Dec. 11
First SSI payment with the 3.6% COLA	Thursday, Dec. 31

The Medicare open enrollment guide and Social Security COLA report have the details.

Put it on the wall

Every date above fits on one page. Print the free November 2026 calendar and circle Nov. 3, Nov. 11 and Nov. 26. The pages on when Thanksgiving falls, Black Friday and Veterans Day cover those holidays year by year.