Communities in Dunedin two big events celebrating the festival of Diwali. The first was hosted by Dunedin Tamil Society on Saturday, October 27 at Edgar Centre and the second event as Dunedin Diwali on Saturday, November 3 hosted by DTS and Otago Museum.

The Diwali event for and by the Dunedin Tamil Society was a grand success with over 150 members of the Tamil community dressed up in traditional Indian clothes came to the event with their families and friends for the big event.

“The event was a grand success and a quantum leap forward with respect to the overall grandeur and essence of festivity, from the venue and the decoration to the mindblowing performances and the delicious food,” President of Dunedin Tamil Society, Luxmanan Selvanesan told The Indian Weekender.

The guests present were Vice President, Multicultural Councils of NZ, Raveen Annamalai, Wellington Mutamizh Sangam Advisor Siva Kumar and President of Auckland Tamil Association Vai Ravindran.

“We thank the Otago Community Trust, their sponsorship has been instrumental in being able to organize a grand event like this by a volunteer group like us. LYCA also contributed to the funding of the event,” Mr Selvanesan.

The event had more than a dozen music and dance performances with solo and group performances from the age of 4 to 40. The also lucky draws for the visitors and participants supported by the sponsors.

“Although the event was conducted in Tamil, many non-Tamil speaking people turned up as well. It was surprising and very warm to have them with us, and it brought the event to an elegant close with a sumptuous dinner from India Garden Restaurant,” Mr Selvanesan added.

The members of the Dunedin Tamil Society comprise from four nations namely India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore. The Dunedin Tamil community has grown over the years with more members becoming a part of the organisation.

“DTS is more of an extended family. Our only goal, objective and passion is to make our people feel at home away from home. The audience who turn up to our events are the pillars of strength to us. The amount of fun everybody had during this Diwali celebration was incredible; it was immensely rewarding to see all the happy faces. It is these smiles that motivate us to keep doing well, keep getting better at what we do and continue organising many more such events for our people,” a spokesperson from DTS said.

Dunedin Diwali 2018

Dunedin Diwali 2018, The Festival of Lights was hosted jointly by DTS and Otago Museum at Dunedin Public Art Gallery & Octagon and Otago Museum.

This event was a bigger success as it saw a greater number of communities in Dunedin come to the event. The event had musical performances and workshops for families and children to engage and participate in the event.

“We organised volunteers to teach the visitors to drape a saree or tie a turban, put henna-Mehendi on women and make rangoli at the event,” a representative from the organising