A colourful river of light display was seen through Reading Town Hall square on Saturday as leading local arts organisation Kala The Arts brought its spectacular Diwali programme to Reading again. Now in its third year, this exciting event brings people of all ages and from different communities together whatever their background just to celebrate.
This festival of lights was open to everyone in the community, with over 2,000 children and adults taking part in a showcase of South Asian arts at its very best.
As the highlight of their programme each year, they are very proud to present a celebration of South Asian culture represented and shared with the wider community. It’s a fantastic way to share stories and heritages with a diverse, inclusive festival.
This year’s theme was animals: Look out for Ravana, the ten-headed demon King, joining the parade for the first time from our friends at Inspirate. We’ll also be incorporating a five-headed Hanuman monkey King, Nandi cows, eagle and Mandir.
The celebrations began with local and national dancers, drummers, creative new installations and of course lanterns to light the way.
The parade travelled with people dancing to the Dhol beats and children carrying lanterns and divas, the Butterfly puppets, Mandir installations, Ganesh installations pulled by volunteers of Reading Shakha and two councillors who worked alongside Kala the Art’s artistic director Sushmita Pati and project manager Pankhuri Verma. The crowd was treated to a spectacular short free show with amazing different South Asian dance by local and community groups.
Kala The Arts has an exhibition running at Reading museum Art of Dance and please do visit the museum. For details on Kala The Arts local dance or music classes at Maiden Place on Sundays, please contact office@kalathearts.co.
