We invite you to come together to celebrate Diwali Light it Up! – the Festival of Lights – with dazzling parades, music, dance, lanterns and joy filling the streets of Basingstoke and Reading. This is a free, family-friendly event and open to all!
South UK’s most spectacular, artistically rich and largest FREE outdoor Diwali celebration is here!
This is Kala the Arts’ flagship event, curated, choreographed, and presented since 2021 – now returns for its sixth year! This community-loved festival will feature giant 12 to 19-ft illuminated puppets depicting animals, goddesses and mythological figures, LED lit Bollywood brass band, professional dancers, dhol drummers, and many more spellbinding performances.
Over the years, these celebrations have grown to over 2,000+ spectators and participants, making them the largest outdoor Diwali celebrations in the South UK. The festivals are completely free and open to all, regardless of background, embodying the universal message of Diwali: the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and community over isolation.
The parades are expected to be attended by both local and international audiences, High Commissioner of India to the United Kingdom, members of parliament, and families travelling from across Hampshire, Surrey, Berkshire and London. The puppeteers and artists will travel from Leicester, Manchester, Brighton, London, Oxford, Isle of Wight, Wales and Liverpool.
Various schools in both regions will be participating with students walking the parade with 150+ lit lanterns in hand as well as 100 lotus flowers to represent the Hindu goddess Lakshmi – usually worshipped during diwali to invite wealth, spiritual prosperity, and abundance.
