England to Host Biggest Diwali Celebrations Outside India

October 19, 2006

LONDON (Thu Oct 19, 2006) (AFP) - The central English city of

Leicester will on Saturday host the biggest Diwali celebrations

outside India as more than 100,000 revellers take part in the festival.

Lined up is a programme of dances, plays, fireworks and street

lighting that John Mugglestone, the city councillor in charge of the

festivities, expects will attract around 130,000 visitors, on top of

the 288,000 who already live in Leicester.

The event joins similar celebrations across the country -- in London's

Trafalgar Square last weekend, light displays, floating lanterns and a

huge model of the Hindu god Ganesh greeted passers-by.

Diwali, Hinduism's festival of light, symbolises the power of good

triumphing over evil.

"It's getting more and more popular. We have to close the roads off

because of the number of people that are down here," Mugglestone told AFP.

The city hosted a "switch-on" event two weeks ago, attended by nearly

40,000 people, with more than 6,000 lights turned on for Diwali.

It was "one of the biggest we've had", said Lucia Chaplin, a Leicester

City Council press officer.

She added that the city was expecting a large crowd "from all over the

world" for this weekend's festivities.

Leicester has one of the biggest ethnic minority populations in

Britain -- 36 percent of the city's residents say they come from a

non-white background, compared to less than eight percent throughout

the country, according to the latest census in 2001.

A quarter of the city's population is of Indian origin. Some 15

percent are Hindus and four percent are Sikhs -- the two biggest

religious groups that celebrate Diwali, along with Jains.

The festival comes this year amid a fierce debate in Britain over how

ethnic minorities should integrate.

SOURCE: News

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