A big-ticket Diwali event was held for the first time at Bradford Bulls stadium on 14 October. Organised by Sathish Babu and Sujie Mogane, from the Keighley Community Access, the event included everything from a grand firework display to classical and Bollywood dances.
The Hindu festival of Diwali is celebrated to mark the return of Lord Ram to his kingdom of Ayodhya from Lanka, after having defeated Ravana, a demon who abducted Lord Ram’s wife Sita under the influence of pride and arrogant power. The story of Lord Ram is recorded in the revered Hindu scripture of Ramayana.
The event was attended by over 500 people from across religious backgrounds, not just from Bradford but also from London, Manchester, Midlands, Newcastle and other areas in across UK. This was a completely free event, aimed to make the celebration accessible to everyone, regardless of one being able to afford a ticket or not.
Among the prominent names who celebrated Diwali at Odsal were actor and politician from India Kushbu Sundar and dignitaries Dr Manoj Joshi, MP Naz Shah, MP Judith Cummins, Adeeba Malik, CBE. The spectacle had around 50 chief guests, who also were from different religious communities.
Khushbu Sundar, Indian actor (both Tamil and Bollywood films) and producer who attended the event, said: “It was such a pleasure to take part in the Diwali celebrations with around 500 people and guests from across Bradford, the City of Culture 2025. I must say, the organisers Sujie and Satish were just brilliant. It was such a grand celebration with brilliant dance performances by wonderful little kids and the fireworks were just amazing. Wishing all a very Happy Diwali”
The event started off with a traditional lamp lighting ceremony, denoting Diwali, festival of lights. This was followed by professional and cultural entertainment, which started of with Bharat Natyam, a classical Indian dance form from Tamil Nadu, a state in southern part of India. The audience were also treated with Bollywood performances and an enthralling firework display.
Sujie Mogane and Satish Babu, organisers of the event, stated: “In and around Bradford, there are various commercial valley events that happen around this time, we have been to various such events. Our motivating factor was to ask, why can’t we do an event that’s for free and accessible to everybody?”
“Bradford being the City of Culture for 2025, we wanted to show that Bradford stands for all the right reasons and bringing the community together and most importantly we wanted to make it accessible for all the community so everybody can take part.”
Diwali will be celebrated in India, UK and across the globe on Monday, 24 October. We wish our viewers a happy, hearty and a safe Diwali.
