The hunt is on for the best Indian cuisine, crafts and performances for this year’s Auckland Diwali Festival, which is due to be celebrated on 31 October and 1 November 2020.
Applications for stallholders close Sunday, 2 August and applications for performers close on Friday, 7 August.
Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) Auckland Diwali Festival producer Leilana Meredith encourages members of Auckland’s Indian community to take part in this year’s event.
"We are looking for retail and food stallholders to showcase the fresh flavours, exotic spices and aromas, handmade crafts and jewellery, from all corners of India,” says Leilana Meredith.
As one of the largest cultural festivals in New Zealand, the festival attracts more than 60,000 attendees each year, with the dozens of food and retail street stalls hugely popular. There are five types of stalls available for the 2020 festival: food (vegetarian only, no eggs); retail (such as craft, clothes, jewellery); henna only; information (non-charitable); and information (charitable).
"Food is such an important part of traditional and contemporary Indian culture and the festival provides an excellent opportunity for Auckland-Indian businesses, organisations and individuals to showcase their authentic and contemporary vegetarian food and products,” says Leilana Meredith.
“The festival will be a great opportunity for businesses to promote their products to Aucklanders who are keen to help local businesses to recover from the impacts of COVID-19,” says Leilana Meredith.
The performances are a highlight of the festival, with more than 1000 performers on stage over the event’s two days.
"We are looking for a wide range of contemporary, traditional, classical or folk Indian performances to feature on the Aotea and Queen Street stages, or as part of the street performances. For those up for a little competition, the Radio Tarana Bollywood competition will be returning with some great prizes to be won," says Leilana Meredith.
Further information including online application forms for stallholders and performers can be found on aucklandnz.com/Diwali or by emailing the Auckland Diwali Festival team at diwali@aucklandnz.com
The Auckland Diwali Festival will be delivered in line with Government event guidelines and advice at the time. ATEED is monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will respond to changing circumstances if required.
