The Hawke’s Bay Diwali festival will return on October 26 at Mitre 10 Sports Park, Hastings. Photo taken during Diwali 2023. Photo / Paul Taylor
The Hawke’s Bay Diwali festival will return on October 26 at Mitre 10 Sports Park, Hastings. Photo taken during Diwali 2023. Photo / Paul Taylor
Hawke’s Bay annual Diwali festival will return on October 26, with organisers expecting more than 8000 people at Mitre 10 Sports Park in Hastings, surpassing last year’s crowd.
The event, hosted by the Hindu Council of Hawke’s Bay, will run from 4pm to 9pm on a Sunday, featuring performances, foodstalls, and the expected fireworks display, this year held in a secure and monitored area.
Council president Sonam Bhandari said the 2025 programme will bring a few additions, including a pre-Diwali display at MTG Napier Museum on October 18-19.
“There’ll also be some surprise elements on the day and a wider mix of cultural performances,” she said.
“We definitely are going for a bigger and better version of Diwali this year.”
“We’ve gone really strong on safety,” Bhandari said.
“We’ve moved the venue to the other side of Mitre10 Sports Park, which gives us a huge ground to work with, making sure it’s secure and clear for fireworks, so nobody goes there.
“There are proper boundaries, we’ve got security now, so it’s much more secure and safe, and people won’t go close to it.”
She said most of the stage performances will again feature local schools and youth groups.
“We don’t hire performers. It’s all community-led,” Bhandari says.
She says Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights, is a multicultural event that celebrates light over darkness, good over evil, and knowledge over ignorance.
“That is the same in all the cultures and communities ... we are all aiming for the same thing, for a better future for our kids and a better future for us and living in this unity. That’s what Diwali is about.”
