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Indian community gathers for Diwali

Nov 13, 2017 | 8:32 AM

Celebrating the victory of light over darkness and good over evil, Prince Albert’s Indian community packed a hall to celebrate Diwali this weekend.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, celebrated heavily throughout India and the world abroad. It is one of the most popular festivals of Hinduism and involves lots of shopping, lights, parties and gift giving.

“Being in a different country, it gives us an opportunity for everyone to get together and to see new faces,” Hardeep Saini, secretary for the All India Cultural Association (AICA) said.

The night was packed with cultural dishes and fireworks, followed by hours of dancing by men and women awash in colourful traditional clothing and other best ware.

There are around 450 Indians in Prince Albert, according to Saini,  with around 200 locals in attendance for Sunday’s event. Saini made note how the small community in the city continues to grow.

“Canada is a great country and allows people to come in and people are coming in and eventually the community will grow,” he said.

This was the first official AICA Diwali celebration, and the third for the city.

To see non-Indian residents and officials take the time to come celebrate with the community was a welcome sign to Saini, making note this is part of the group agenda.

“Our motto is to help the people of Prince Albert understand who we are and how we celebrate and grow cultural diversity,” he said. “It is good for us and them…to get everyone to know who we are and interact and it is nice to see everyone dancing together.”

 

 

tyler.marr@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @JournoMarr