The annual Auckland Diwali Festival 2020 will not be going ahead in Aotea Square as originally planned. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
The annual Auckland Diwali Festival 2020 will not be going ahead in Aotea Square as originally planned. Photo / Sylvie Whinray
Auckland's Diwali Festival will not be going ahead as planned next month due to Covid-19 concerns, but will instead be celebrated over three weeks at multiple locations.
The festival, one of Auckland's biggest cultural event celebrating the Indian culture and the city's diverse Indian communities, was originally scheduled to be held over three days at Aotea Square and Queen Street from October 31.
Auckland Mayor Phil Goff has announced the format for the festival will be totally changed this year but will allow it to go ahead, even if the Covid-19 restrictions are still in place.
The annual event in central Auckland usually draws crowds of more than 60,000 over the three days.
Malaysians Tivan Rishi Kumaraparathi and Thamayanthi Varathan host a Diwali family dinner. File photo / Doug Sherring.
"We are having to adjust to new ways of doing things as a result of Covid-19," Goff said.
"Along with many other Aucklanders, I had been looking forward to the traditional gathering in Aotea Square. However, the threat of Covid-19 means that this year, our stakeholders including the Diwali Advisory Group agreed that we have to do things differently to help keep our communities safe.
"It is important that we still celebrate Diwali but do so in a way that is safe for everyone and that recognises the festival's significance to our diverse communities."
Rangoli art will be part of this year's revised Diwali Festival celebrations. File photo / Jason Oxenham.
Also known as the Festival of Lights, Diwali was originally a Hindu Festival but is today celebrated by non-Hindus and Indians from around the world.
The festival signifies different things to different Indian groupings.
To Gujarati, the festival honours Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, but Northern Indians celebrate the god Rama's homecoming to the kingdom of Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.
In Auckland every year, it is celebrated publicly with an annual three-day festival featuring vegetarian street food, cultural performances, crafts, fashion and culminating with a fireworks display.
In its revised format, the event will run from October 27 to November 14 at various community venues, and may include additional features such as film nights, cooking classes and workshops.
An Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (Ateed) spokeswoman said the decision to change the festival format was to ensure it could meet the guidelines of alert level 2 or higher.
Ateed general manager destination Steve Armitage said organisers had been looking since March for alternative ways to deliver cultural festivals, including Diwali, under different Covid-19 alert levels.
"The Diwali Advisory Group confirmed with us how important it was for the community to celebrate Diwali, regardless of alert levels. The alternative approach agreed upon allows for that," he said.
The team were now busy developing the revised programme which may include movie nights, workshops, cooking classes and panel discussions on top of the usual community programme.
The community programme, started two years ago, takes place at community centres across Auckland with activities like henna tattooing, rangoli art and lunches.
Armitage said information about the 2020 Diwali Festival will be firmed and made available by the end of September.
"While the festival programme will be different this year, it provides a great opportunity to celebrate traditional and contemporary Indian culture, and our diverse Auckland Indian communities. It will also mean Aucklanders can celebrate Diwali in their local community, with events planned in North, South, East, West and Central Auckland," he said.
"Making this decision now will ensure we have time to plan and deliver this new community-based festival programme."
Vinod Kumar, president of Hindu Council of NZ and member of the Diwali Advisory Group, said the decision to revise the format rather than cancel the event was a "huge outcome for the community".
"With Covid-19, it is good to know that the celebrations of Diwali are still going to take place.
"The celebrations will take place regionally in several regions and in a very controlled fashion which can be adjusted to suit effectively while keeping the society safe. We welcome the decision and thanks to all concerned."
