Over 20,000 people are expected to walk through the doors at the Trusts Stadium in Henderson to celebrate the Waitakere Diwali Festival – A festival of Lights on Sunday 25 September, says the Waitakere Indian Association (WIA).
WIA is taking performers and stallholder applications from August 1 for the festival. There will be about 60 stalls made available featuring Indian vegetarian food, crafts and trade.
Waitakere Diwali is well known for its wide selection of food, crafts, dancing displays, fireworks and laser light show.
This year Grand Dandiya Night is on Saturday, September 24 starting at 6pm. It's the second time the WIA has incorporated the traditional folk dance into the programme.
DJ Gabroo, the organiser of Dandiya Night says, "It's not just a stage display – we will be getting everyone involved in the dancing.”
In Waitakere this festival is celebrated by the whole community irrespective of their background, it is an opportunity to share and celebrate the colours, costumes and mouth watering food from the Indian Continent.
This festival is also intended to attract the wider Kiwi communities to participate in the event. While New Zealanders of varied cultural background and ethnicity lived and worked together, there was little opportunity for them to witness and understand each others culture and heritage. Events such as this play an important part in bringing disparate people together, a process that is so necessary in today’s world.
The Waitakere Diwali Festival has been running for ten years now, and the crowd has become more multi-cultural over the years. Association president Anand Naidu says that “We’re promoting the sharing of cultures. This year’s theme for the festival is health and wellbeing, so anyone can participate. We have a School Bollywood dance competition and have invited local schools, there’s a fashion parade and we end the night with a fireworks display.”
Diwali Project Manager Manoj Tahal adds, “The Diwali Committee is planning to engage the services of health professionals, fire department, NZ Police and others to provide free advise on health and safety, nutrition and general wellbeing. WIA is not only working for the Indian Community but all the communities residing in Waitakere and the greater Auckland region. The efforts put into organising this festival are a proof of this.”
Tahal says, “The Waitakere Diwali celebrations also coincides with the Rugby World Cup and we will endeavour to make overseas visitors feel welcome and entertain them.”
The festival will be held from 10.30am - 10.30pm on September 25 at the Waitakere Trusts Stadium.
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