If arts and culture is your thing, Diwali San Antonio on Saturday will have plenty of both. AnujaSA President Kausi Subramaniam explains its origins.
“San Antonio and Chennai, India are sister cities. This relationship was formalized in 2008 and since 2009 we have been celebrating Diwali in San Antonio in commemoration of that sister city relationship,” Subramanium said.
Diwali itself is, in essence, a celebration of good over evil, light over dark. And Subramanium said the night is packed with family-friendly events.
“We will have all types of dance performances. We will have classical Indian dance, folk Indian dance from the various Indian states,” she said. “We will have a great fusion segment which really incorporates styles of dance and music from around the world. We will also have the river parade of states.”
There are 28 different states in India, and the river parade will highlight many of those states on the river barges, showing the different clothing and cultural attributes of each state.
There's plenty of food, drink, Bollywood dancing, and more.
“We will have all types of dance performances from the various Indian states. We will also have the river parade of states,” Subramaniam said. “And we will have the sand art display, which is called rangoli, which people can come and see.”
Those who create rangoli use colored sand to create highly detailed pictures made entirely of sand. Subramanium said that each Indian state’s culture is sometimes quite different from the state next door.
“Each Indian state has its own official language. So if I go, if my family is from the state of Tamil Nadu, which is where Chennai is located, our sister city,” she said. “But if I were to go to another state, even a neighboring state in India, I would not understand their official language.”
Here at San Antonio’s Diwali, the various food, drink, music and India-themed merchandise from each state will all be available.
“Of course, we will have lots of vendors selling food and merchandise, and so there's a lot going on,” Subramanium said. “There's a children's section, and there are little surprises all over the park, and it is going to be at Hemisfair, and the earlier segment where we do the parade is going to be at the Arneson River Theater.”
The whole event is free and lasts from 5 p.m. until Midnight at Hemisfair on Saturday.
