Diwali Festivals Light Up New Zealand

The sights, sounds and tastes of India are transforming the streets of New Zealand as the Diwali Festival of Lights comes to city’s throughout the country.

Diwali – India’s biggest and most colourful festival celebrates the triumph of light conquering dark, good overcoming evil and the renewal of life – and each year people in city’s around New Zealand come together to celebrate this sacred time.

Auckland transformed

Thousands of people flocked to the cultural melting pot of Auckland as New Zealand’s ‘City of Sails’ was transformed into the ‘City of Lights’ for two days over the weekend.

The bustling city centre came alive with music, dancing and a street parade – while part of Auckland’s iconic Queen Street was transformed into an Indian bazaar, with 50 stalls offering everything from traditional Indian vegetarian cuisine to clothing, jewellery and henna.

Highlights of the Auckland festival, hailed as the most successful ever, included a stunning fireworks display, masked performers from the Trinetra Chhau Dance Centre and two stellar performances by Punjabi-Canadian born, celebrity blogger Lily Singh aka ‘Superwoman’.

The Indian culture inspired ‘Superwoman’, whose YouTube videos address issues like Indian stereotypes and modern culture with a comedic twist, was a hit with the many Indian’s living in Auckland.

Versatile adventures

A video, shot for Auckland-based Indian radio station Radio Tarana, showed Singh enjoying the vibrant and versatile adventures the city of Auckland has to offer. The 24-year-old enjoyed a Maori Culture show at the Auckland Museum and a walk on the beautiful Mission Bay beach.

Singh also enjoyed stunning views from the top of Mount Eden, the second-highest natural vantage point in the city, and home to one of Auckland’s most stunning volcanic craters.

Singh also took to the skies on the SkyWalk. This famous attraction takes participants around a thrilling 1.2 metre-walkaway, 192 metres above ground around Auckland’s mighty Sky Tower. The exhilarating walk offers sublime panoramic views of Auckland city and was famously undertaken by Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar and teammates when they visited New Zealand in 2012.

India for a day

The South Island city of Christchurch will also transform into India for a day with its own Diwali festival (October 26th).

This takes place at the CBS Canterbury Arena, one of New Zealand’s largest etertainment venues, just 10 minutes from the Christchurch city centre.

Highlights of this festival include a celebration of ‘100 Years of Indian Cinema’ and an opening ceremony that gives festival goers the chance to experience a unique indoor pyrotechnic display.

The next stop for the colourful festival is Wellington, New Zealand’s capital city. The festival takes place inside and around Wellington’s TSB Bank Arena on the lively Queens Wharf (October 27th) – a harbour
based hub that also houses a raft of bars and restaurants.

Bewitching show

Events in Wellington include a fashion show, live band and a vibrant performance by the ‘Welly N Bollys’ dancers. The masked dancers who enchanted crowds at the Auckland festival will also travel to the city to perform their bewitching show.

Hailing from Jharkhand state in east India, dancers from the Trinetra Chhau Dance Centre, showcase the Chhau dance, a dance that is traditionally performed during the spring festival of Chaitra Parva.

The dance takes many forms across India – the Trinetra Chhau Dance Centre dancers perform Seraikella Chhau, a dance originally developed by the royal families of eastern India.

Urban delight

Along with the more traditional fare of food and dance, urban artist Hanif Kureshi is also hoping to stamp his mark on the Wellington event.

In his youth the distinctive artist was inspired by the colourful street painters from his birthplace of Gujarat, and so he created HandpaintedType. This is a project ‘dedicated to preserving the typographic practice of street painters around India.’

Whilst attending the New Zealand Diwali Festival of Lights, Kureshi is creating unique pieces of contemporary art that incorporate the traditional handpainted fonts often seen on the bustling streets of India.
The artist, whose work has been exhibited in Venice and Paris, will also take part in workshops and lectures.

Fortnight of entertainment

Other events to celebrate Diwali have also taken place across New Zealand. Napier, in the sunny Hawke’s Bay region of the North Island, enjoyed its own day of Indian delight, while Hamilton, in the Waikato region, is in the midst of a fortnight full of entertainment.

Hamilton’s Diwali Mela runs until October 28th and has various events exploring Indian art, culture, music and dance, catering for all ages and various ethnic backgrounds.

New Zealand has strong ties with the Indian community and visitors from India have been arriving to New Zealand shores since the late 1800s. The annual Diwali Festival of Lights is a chance for people to celebrate the diversity of New Zealand while also experiencing the magical wonder of India.