Tauranga Diwali Festival a mosaic of colour and light

Dancers held the stage for the evening providing treats for the eyes in celebration of culture and Diwali. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

Tauranga's second Diwali Festival has made it to the stage despite Covid-19 wreaking havoc on the rest of the world's celebrations.

Hosted at the Historic Village on Saturday, guests were treated to a sensory overload of food, sights and sounds from the very beginning.

Colourful lanterns overhead set the scene, while complimentary treats were handed out on entry.

With hopes of beating last year's crowd of 2500 people, the Diwali Festival had queues at 4pm for henna tattoos and face painting.

Festival organiser Bela Dasi said she aimed to offer a safe space for people to be creative and expressive while celebrating their cultural and spiritual background, acknowledging the existing value of the South Asian community and enhancing its culturally rich input in Tauranga.

Lanterns were giving guests a taster of what was to come in the indian festival of light. Photo / Leah Tebbutt

Diwali is the Indian festival of lights and one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism, symbolising the spiritual "victory of light over darkness".

Dasi said the mixture of all ethnicities present at the festival, in spite of a tumultuous year, was the true spirit of Diwali.

"This is the meaning of Diwali, to transcend the false identifying of ourselves and others as material bodies of different colours and culture. Ethnicities create barriers and animosities between us.

"To see each other as this common soul, as brothers and sisters, as part of a larger family and community, this is the light of truth and is what Diwali is all about."

Young and old were present at the festival enjoying multiple performances from dancing groups.

The rhythmic beats made many move their hips along with the dancers, but the babies showed everyone how it was done while prancing around the grass.

Tauranga City Council deputy mayor Tina Salisbury opened the event by saying Indians, along with the wider Asian community, made up 7.6 per cent of Tauranga Moana's mosaic of culture.

"Through a combination of enterprise and a strong work ethic, those of Indian descent have added value to our sub-region's economy and our society by their participation in a wide variety of industries and disciplines."

Salisbury hoped many would enjoy the freedom to gather as a large crowd as the second wave of Covid-19 hit the world.