Jersey celebrates public Diwali festival

It is thought to be the first time the community has celebrated the festival with the rest of the island

Volunteers have put on what is thought to be the first public Diwali event in Jersey.

More than 40 members of the island's Indian and Hindu community worked to host The Jersey Diwali Festival.

It was held at the Jersey Library and the Jersey Central Market to showcase Indian culture to the wider public with traditional food, music, art, and dancing.

Diwali is a major festival celebrating the triumph of light over darkness and the start of new beginnings for millions of people of the Hindu, Sikh, and Jain faiths.

'Absolutely spectacular'

This is thought to be the first time the community has celebrated the festival of lights with the rest of the island, said volunteer Nirupa Ramanathan.

"It's been absolutely spectacular," she said.

"I've lived here for nearly 20 years and we've always celebrated Diwali within our own little groups.

"The participation of the local community has been amazing, and it's been reciprocal of what we wanted to show as a community.

"What we've tried to do is a little showcase of Diwali which is the festival of lights which we celebrate every year - a bit like our community's version of Christmas."

The event was hosted by Jersey International Cultural Centre which is a government project to celebrate cultural identities and to bring islanders together.