Dance, music, food, Diwali!

Dances, performances, skits and music filled a Taranaki stadium as the region’s Diwali celebration was held for the first time in two years.

The festival, which celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, was held at the TSB Stadium in New Plymouth and had 4500 people through the doors, the most of any year.

Ashwani Kumar, president of the New Plymouth Indian community, said the event took three to four months of planning and people had been waiting to celebrate, since it was cancelled last year.

‘‘Normally, Diwali is the biggest event of the year, and we didn’t have it in 2021 because of Covid, so we were all prepared for this response.’’

The celebration started at 4.30pm on Saturday with performances throughout the evening and a fireworks display to end the night.

Diwali has been hosted in New Plymouth since 2016 and Kumar said it was a chance for cultures around the region to come together.

‘‘It was a lot of cultural events, so we had different cultural activities from different states of India.

‘‘We also had other local communities contribute quite a bit to make a nice night.’’

Photos: LISA BURD/STUFF Akamksha Kumar, 10, performs a dance.

Tajvir Singh, 6, and Zara Jassal celebrate in style the festival, which had at about 4500 people attend.

Ajar Kumar was cooks up a storm.

the Diwali 6, performs during Keiya Bhandari, festival on Saturday.

Sita Pati Das chants during the Diwali celebrations, which were held at TSB Stadium.

Shreevalli Pawar, 15, was one of the many performers who took part.