Photo credit: Discover Belleville.
By- Sandeep Kaur [1]
BELLEVILLE – Belleville plans to celebrate Diwali on Oct. 14 at West Zwicks Park from 3 pm to 10 pm.
Diwali [2] is the Hindu festival of lights traditionally celebrated in October or November.
It’s a day when people can enjoy traditional arts and crafts, delicious Indian cuisine, a dance party, and a sky full of bright fireworks.
In Belleville, Diwali events begin at 3 p.m. Among the many events, there will be some cultural dance performances by Reign Yash Dance and Rupinder Pal Singh as well as local talent from Loyalist College.
There will also be a DJ for a dance party that starts after 6 p.m. During the afternoon, there will be demonstrations of Indian crafts like rangoli, face painting and henna. Diyas will also be handed out. Diyas are an oil lamp with a wick dipped in ghee that are a symbol of the festival of lights.
This year’s festival will also have more food venders on-site.
Food venders [3] are coming from Kingston, Oshawa, and Cobourg and include Belleville food vendors like Royal Haveli, 1000 Curry, Namaste Kingston, SK Sweets & Snacks and Desi Basket.
Belleville Transit will provide free shuttle bus service from the downtown bus terminal and Loyalist College between 3 p.m. to 10:30 p.m.
The city of Belleville received an award in 2022 (Festival and Events Ontario) for last year’s Diwali festival.
“Last year we had eight thousand people, and this park is perfect for an event like that, said Tiffany Young, an event coordinator working with the Belleville Chamber of Commerce on the organization of the event.
She says last year’s festival was amazing. She expects more of the same this year.
“It grows every year.”