The largest, most lavish Diwali yet was held in Cochrane, Oct. 25.
Almost 200 people socialized, enjoyed Indian cuisine and danced, danced, danced.
"Diwali is known as 'The Festival of Lights' and we're celebrating the win over evil, the light over the darkness, and knowledge over ignorance. To do that we light up the house, eat lots of sweets and celebrate with our families," explains Bina Dutt, of the organizing committee.
Based on beliefs, she says it's celebrated in various ways in India.
"But at the end of the day, the essence is still the same. We are bringing the light and prosperity into our lives and in our health."
Dutt says while Indian community is growing in Cochrane, it was an opportunity to share the celebration with a diverse group of people from the larger community.
"There was such an overwhelming response from the mixed community," she says. "It was not only people from South Asia, but it was also a mixture of people from the whole community, and that was the real celebration, because we all had fun together."
There have been smaller Diwali celebrations organized in Cochrane in the past, but nothing as grand as the scale of this affair.
"We are very optimistic that moving forward it will be a continuous event," says Paul Singh, another member of the committee.
To pull it off, Singh says planning began in February. The core committee was formed by Bina, Paul, Garima, Jas and Tony. Mehak, Mohak, Jaswant, Ankita also volunteered at the event.
