Peterborough to host 'all-faith' Diwali celebrations this weekend

Preparations are well underway for Peterborough Diwali Festival for 2023, which will take place in Cathedral Square on Saturday (October 28).

The event will be tenth anniversary of the city’s official celebrations of the Hindu Festival of Lights.

The first official event has held in 2013 at the Guildhall but since then the event has grown significantly and since the 2020 event was cancelled due to the pandemic, this will by the tenth year.

The event will begin with an inauguration ceremony at 10:30 which will be attended by a number of dignitaries, including Mayor Nick Sandford and Mayoress Bella Saltmarsh as well as North West Cambridgeshire MP Shailesh Vara.

The event will also have a wide variety of music and entertainment, henna and food stalls.

Celebrations have been split in two as a Sangeet Sangam music concert was also held at the New Theatre on October 8.

Rajni Reddy, Secretary Peterborough Diwali Festival Committee said: “We are really excited to be holding our ten year anniversary event and really happy to see how we have grown since starting out in 2013 with no funding.

"We have never promoted this as a religious event, rather as a platform for people to show their talent and for people to together for a multi-community event.”