Friday night, the Lionville YMCA saw hundreds of members and non members. The corridors were full of locals dressed in ethnic Indian costumes coming together to celebrate the Indian festival of Diwali. The event, which has become a popular annual affair, is organised by the Y staff and a fantastic team of volunteers. It was a fun evening - a delight for all senses - colorful Indian outfits and decor, music and sounds of people mingling, smell and taste of delicious food....
A very popular activity, that I was a proud sponsor of, is the the Arts and Crafts event. Making flowers, decorating candles, learning to wrap a saree, applying henna, making beaded bracelets ...these activities kept adults and children entertained throughout the evening.
There was a rangoli contest and the adjoining picture shows some of the winners in the adult category. You may click on the picture to enlarge it. Children and adults are encouraged to come up with their own designs and patterns - the most traditional ones being the symmetrical geometric ones.
Two popular local Indian restaurants Devi and Himalayan, are regular and very welcome participants at the event. They serve a variety of north and south Indian food to approximately 700+ visitors typically expected at the event.
The highlight of the evening is usually the cultural show, performed by local children under the guidance of their parents and dance teachers. To a backdrop of a temporary stage decorated with sarees, children performed traditional Indian dances like Bharatnatyam as well as more contemporary Bollywood numbers.
Some families have just moved to the area and saw this as an opportunity to meet other Indian families, a couple said they were grateful for the event - they loved celebrating Diwali with the local community, some parents have made this event an annual affair, a couple of nursing students were using this as an opportunity to get in their volunteer hours, a variety of vendors were advertising and promoting their small businesses, a few non Indian ladies loved soaking in the culture and plan on returning next year, a young artist looks forward to learning more about the traditional rangoli designs, The YMCA I am sure, looks forward to more memberships and publicity from the event....it was certainly a huge success!
I love promoting ethnic art forms and exposing my children to the Indian cultural events and saw this as a great opportunity to promote my business as a local Realtor. What was you favorite part of the evening? Will you be there next year?
Great descriptions and details about the event. I feel like I personally attended the event, thanks to you.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite part of the evening is the great food put out by Devi. Although, I couldn't make it this year I will probably be there next year.