On Nov. 10, the Asian American and Pacific Islanders Student Union, South Asian Society, and Edina Asian American Alliance (EAAA) hosted Edina’s first annual Diwali Celebration at Southdale Library. The Hindu celebration of Diwali, or the “Festival of Lights,” is characterized by a celebration of goodness over evil. The event was filled with colors and traditions. The holiday is a five-day-long festival and is celebrated every fall between October and November. Traditional food, music, crafts and activities were offered at the festival.
“It’s just a wonderful celebration of light over darkness, [thinking] about what might be ahead, and always thinking positive about what’s to come; it’s just a wonderful kind of cross-cultural event,” Edina Mayor James Hovland said. He made an appearance alongside Hennepin County Commissioner Heather Edelson to join the celebration.
“Even though it is religious, everyone celebrates because it unites a lot of Indian culture,” senior Alisha Kalair said. “Once, I was in India for Diwali, and everyone put up fireworks. It was just really fun that all the neighbors—the whole entire neighborhood—were coming together even though you had no idea who they were, and we were all just celebrating and having fun. Celebrating Diwali here in America can be a little bit limited, because you can’t just go out into your street and put up fireworks.”
Edelson said that she, along with Edina Community Foundation member Afira Hasan, and AEEE founding member Kelly Condit-Shrestha have been collaborating to present multicultural events that are represented in Edina’s population. Edelson is also working to ensure that cultural holidays such as Ramadan, Hanukkah, and Diwali are being represented.
Many attendees wore traditional Indian dress wear to the festival to celebrate. Vinitha Meganathan, an Edina resident, wore a traditional dress called a saree to the festival. Made of colorful silk thread and ribbon, sarees are worn on special occasions, and they are one of the oldest styles worn today, dating back to around 5,000 years ago.
“We moved to the United States in the past 15 years… Every year we celebrate Diwali with our old friends,” she said. “Every morning we dress up, we go to temple, and we’ll do fireworks.”
Senior Summer Wang spent her first Diwali this year setting up and enjoying the festival. “This is actually my first year celebrating Diwali, because my parents are from East Asia, so I’m really glad that I got to have this experience, because now I get to celebrate it with my friends and learn more about it,” she said.
