London celebrates Diwali at Trafalgar Square
As the days get shorter and winter creeps in, families all around the world are making arrangements for one of the most eagerly anticipated and biggest festivals of the year – Diwali.
Shopping lists are being finalised and travel bookings have been made as families come together to share in this joyous occasion. Not even the cold and wintry nights are a match for the celebration of light, as the atmosphere fills with warmth and excitement.
As people come together to celebrate this wondrous festival, London is one city that is proud to have such vibrant community and on Sunday 27th October, London opened its arms to the festivities and welcomed thousands of families to Trafalgar Square, showcasing the very best of multi-cultural Britain through Indian art, culture and exhibition.
In partnership with the Mayor of London and an array of businesses from the UK, Here and Now 365 were proud to have organised another successful ‘Diwali on the Square’.
Virgin Media’s ‘Asian Mela’ stall took the event by storm as they showcased their exclusive bundle of Asian channels on the Virgin Media platform. Marking their first season of active engagement, the Virgin Media team were filled with festive spirit, giving away freebies galore as they showed that they were here to stay at the heart of the Indian community. They created quite a buzz as crowds swarmed to get their pictures taken on the green screen as their faces were superimposed into Bollywood film posters. Attractions and games such as ‘Spin the Wheel’ kept a total of 2500 people entertained as the Virgin Media team capitalised on an action-packed day.
Over 14 Indian banking institutions were represented by the Association of Indian Banks, with the Chair, Mr. Lamba gracing the stand. The evening was a prime opportunity to interact with a lively crowd as they conducted the main competition of the night giving away gold and silver coins to one lucky winner. The winning entry was presented with a gold coin embossed with Laxmi, Goddess of Wealth, by the Bank of Baroda’s Deputy CEO, Mr. Rajneesh Sharma, who gave a heart warming message, wishing everyone a Happy Diwali before the closing ceremony.
The NHS, Money Gram and the Axis Bank also took the opportunity to reach out to the community, all while Zee TV provided high-quality coverage and a star-studded entertainment line-up with the likes of Anoushka Shankar and Chirag Rao making it an event relished throughout Britain.
For businesses and advertisers, the plethora of outreach opportunities available does not get any better than ‘Diwali on the Square’. It’s the biggest congregation of NRIs in Europe, reaching an impressive footfall of 40,000 and growing every year. The spirits are always high and people are always happy to interact with their favourite brands through games, competitions and freebies.
Diwali on the Square is an event that firmly crowns London’s status as the world’s most culturally diverse city. To everyone that attended, we hope that you had a fantastic time and to those that couldn’t make it we hope to see you next year.
Here and Now 365 has always prided itself for promoting multiculturalism and celebrating the ethnic diversity of the UK.
