This Sunday at Newstead Wood school for girls the Diwali cultural extravaganza offered a wide range of stalls, food and cultural dance which came together to form a beautiful evening of colourful joy. 

Background knowledge : What is Diwali? 

Diwali, which is occurring on the 31st of October in 2024, is the Hindu festival of lights, where many come together to eat traditional food, listen to music and enjoy the colourful culture of the festival. 

Many also wear cultural apparel such as lenghas, pavadais and saris, which come in all sorts of patterns and at the event on Sunday, livened up the atmosphere as bright colours surrounded the stalls.

What was on offer at the event? 

The food stalls

When visiting the event, there were an array of stalls set up including Falooda, Momos, samosas, pani puri and more, with each stall presenting a wide variety of flavours that are delicious to tuck into! 

The welcoming friendliness of the local sellers and the raw home-made taste of the food made it delicious and heart-warming to see everyone bonding over the festival of Diwali .

The clothing stalls

As you enter the hall of the school, the surroundings were packed full of traditional clothing in every shape and size, the best thing being that everyone was uniting to both promote their businesses and have fun at the same time.

Item stalls 

As well as food and clothing, there were also home decoration items on display. When asked about why they decided to do this stall, seller Shilpa said:

"Home decor is my passion. I love colourful things!"

And other seller Farnaaz:

It's a unique gift item to personalise as a Diwali present"

This not only shows the true heart of the sellers at the extravaganza but of most sellers at the time of Diwali, sharing their culture and ideas to all bringing the community together. 

The community

At the extravaganza there were colours and people everywhere, everybody uniting in their culture and providing a feeling of comfort, making it a wonderful evening for all that decided to go and will linger in memories for many Diwalis to come.