Diwali is a festival of lights and one of the major festivals celebrated by Hindus, Jains, Sikhs and some Buddhists. In India it’s the most important holiday of the year. The festival usually lasts five days and is celebrated during the Hindu lunisolar month Kartika (between mid-October and mid-November). Diwali symbolizes the spiritual “victory of light over darkness, good over evil and knowledge over ignorance”. Indians, and those who celebrate, light the outside of their homes with clay lamps that symbolize the inner light that protects from the spiritual darkness.
On the occasion of Canada’s 150th birthday, ArohaFest was launched as an annual two-day multidisciplinary bilingual festival celebrating the arts of India in the National Capital Region by Anjali Patil, artistic director, performer, teacher, producer. Featuring world-class music, dance, visual arts, yoga and Bollywood performances and workshops, this is the second year that the National Arts Centre has co-presented Arohafest virtually. During the pandemic, the NAC joined forces with Arohafest to co-present this fantastic event in a virtual format. This event has reached a wide audience across Canada and throughout the world. This is the third time that the NAC is co-presenting with Arohafest including: Arohafest November 2020, Spring 2021 Holi edition, and now the Temple to TikTok Youth Edition (October 30) and Diwali edition (November 4).
One exciting highlight of the Diwali edition includes music by Ottawa’s own Shweta Subram who most recently has been featured on the very popular pop song by Tesher x Jason Derulo – Jalebi Baby. What is a Jalebi you ask? It’s an Indian sweet snack made by deep-frying maida flour batter in pretzel or circular shapes which are then soaked in sugar syrup. The song is catchy and the dessert is delicious, and that’s only one reason to tune in to Arohafest. A real treat will be the cooking demonstration by Chef Joe Thottungal owner of Coconut Lagoon and Thali Coconut Lagoon Ottawa. A feast for the eyes will be dance performances by Anjali Patil, Aishwarya Vijaykumar, Sonia St-Michel, Sujata Raisinghani and Geoffrey Dollar. Many visual artists will also present their works during this free online event.
Don’t miss Arohafest – Diwali Edition. Tune in on the NAC Facebook Page – November 4th, 2021 at 7 pm.
