Kiwis love celebrating the festival of lights. Since 2002, the Auckland Diwali Festival has grown to be a hugely popular, family friendly event showcasing traditional and contemporary Indian culture and Auckland’s diverse Indian communities.
This year was supposed to be Auckland’s 20th Diwali Festival, but unfortunately, Covid-19 has hampered the organizers’ best-laid plans. Though the Auckland Diwali Festival is cancelled, one can still celebrate Diwali with a range of entertaining and informative content to enjoy from the comfort of their home and like every year, this year too one can witness Auckland’s key landmarks being lit up in bright fuchsia and yellow to showcase the Festival of Lights.
The festival will seem a little different this year with online celebrations. Auckland Mayor Phil Goff said, “Diwali is one of Auckland’s most popular festivals and a really important celebration for the Indian community.”
“It is disappointing that the usual celebration has again had to be cancelled due to the COVID-19 crisis. However, we want Diwali to still be a special time for Aucklanders, with the online programme providing opportunities for families at home to enjoy Indian culture and celebrate the Festival of Lights together.”
The Auckland Diwali Festival teams have gathered a range of entertaining and educational content for all Aucklanders to enjoy. The Auckland Diwali Festival Facebook page is sharing daily inspiration.
Leilana Meredith, Festival Producer, said: “While the tens of thousands of Aucklanders who normally attend our major event aren’t able to this year, we still wanted to support Aucklanders to celebrate Diwali, learn more about Indian culture, enjoy and try something new at home with their family.”
“Tasty Indian dishes and treats are a firm festival favourite, so we have fantastic at-home recipes and cooking demonstrations; music, crafts and dance are always hugely popular, so we have dance classes, henna and craft templates, videos to learn more about Diwali and Indian culture, and a playlist of music from DJs that would usually perform at the festival,” informed Meredith.
