Selwyn’s Diwali Festival lit up Lincoln Domain earlier this month, as several thousand attendees enjoyed the traditional ‘Festival of Lights.’
A Hindu celebration of diversity and symbolic of the victory of light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance, this year’s event included exhibit stalls, close to 40 performances and a fireworks display to wow the crowd in attendance.
“The Indian community in Selwyn aims to develop a unique event that showcases the incredible diversity of our culture through traditional festival activities, art, music, dance and food,” says Archna Tandon, Chair of Canterbury Indian Women Group (CIWG), the event organisers.
“We enjoy sharing our culture with the wider community, and Selwyn continues to be very supportive of this festival. We’ve seen it grow in popularity over the years.”
Behind the scenes a team of 16 planned the event, which began with 800 attendees in its inaugural year and has grown significantly over the past nine years.
Rātā Foundation funding helped CIWG to deliver Selwyn Diwali this year, through the South Island funder’s ‘Connect’ funding focus area.
“At Rātā, we know that fostering diversity, connection and belonging is key to building social cohesion,” says Rātā Chief Executive Leighton Evans.
“By providing ethnic communities with opportunities to connect, celebrate their unique cultural identity and share their culture with others, Canterbury Indian Women Group is empowering diverse communities across the Canterbury region.”
Diwali is just one event on CIWG’s calendar designed to support and empower ethnic women, their families and communities. The group also have plans to deliver free certified self defence courses, cross-cultural parenting workshops, Bollywood dance fitness classes and a multicultural festival in the coming months.
“We aim to support communities to thrive by celebrating culture, promoting diversity, offering health and wellbeing initiatives, and improving the inclusion of ethnic communities in Aotearoa,” says Archna.
“There has been an increase in people from diverse communities wanting to connect with us and participate, which is a positive step in fostering social cohesion.”
About Canterbury Indian Women Group:
CIWG was founded on 8th March 2016, International Women’s Day, and began with Canterbury’s first ever Indian Women Expo. The Expo aimed to provide a platform for women to promote and showcase their skills, talents and successes to the wider community, in areas including business, art, culture, education, health and well-being.
The purpose of CIWG is to maintain, promote and preserve Indian arts and cultural heritage, and to share and celebrate this with the wider community. The group also aims to promote and maintain family and cultural values, health and well-being.
