Kelowna's Diwali celebrations begin

As the Hindu festival of Diwali draws near, the Kelowna Culture Club (KCC) kicked off the celebrations with their "Diwali Dhamaka Night."

The community came together Saturday to enjoy traditional cuisine and live entertainment. Singer Gurpal Matiar, from the Lower Mainland, as the star attraction.

Diwali occurs on the 15th day of the Hindu lunar month of Kartika, so it changes year to year. This year, Diwali is Nov.12, although the more formal five-day festivities start Nov.10..

Ruby Brar from the KCC told Kelowna10 the Diwali celebration has evolved significantly over the last 100 years.

“When the Diwali was celebrated because of the religious ceremonies, it was only lighting up the Khiladi candles. Now we make it a little bit trendier, we make it more modernized,” she explained. “It's billions of people celebrating Diwali all across the world. Here [tonight] we are having dinner and dance, making food, and we are having all the cultures together as a community and celebrating.”

Diwali, often referred to as the Festival of Lights, holds significant importance in both Hindu and Sikh faiths.

Brar said there is both a religious and cultural significance to the festival.

“It is the goodness over evil, it is the light over darkness. This is the significance of how we celebrate and bring together the happiness, the joy, the sweet, everything that we can do together, and also to celebrate the religious with the Hinduism and Sikhism culture.”