Diwali celebration: October 23 8-9, Prairie Fields Park

Diwali is India's biggest and most important holiday of the year!  Everyone is invited to enjoy the celebratory fireworks display on Thursday, October 23rd from 8-9pm at Prairie Fields Park.

Diwali  or Deepavali is popularly known as the "festival of lights" . The festival gets its name from the row (avali) of clay lamps (or deepa) that Indians light outside their homes to symbolize the inner light that protects us from spiritual darkness.

Diwali, celebrated in October or November each year, originated as a harvest festival that marked the last harvest of the year before winter. India was an agricultural society where people would seek the divine blessing of Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, as they closed their accounting books and prayed for success at the outset of a new financial year. Today, this practice extends to businesses all over the Indian subcontinent, which mark the day after Diwali as the first day of the new financial year.

Indians celebrate with family gatherings, glittering clay lamps, festive fireworks, strings of electric lights, bonfires, flowers, sharing of sweets, and worship to goddess Lakshmi. Some believe that Lakshmi wanders the Earth looking for homes where she will be welcomed. This  festival marks the victory of good over evil.