This year’s Diwali celebration promises to be one of the best celebrations in the country. And what’s more it will be indoors so visitors can put away their brollies and enjoy the fun! On Sunday 31 October 2010 the National Indoor Arena (NIA) will host the event which is now the biggest Diwali event in the West Midlands.
Some of the UK’s hottest Asian urban/classical music acts will be playing at the free concert including local band DCS who will be headlining the event, as well as Navin Kundra, BBC 1’s Waterloo Road’s Karen David, Sonna, Foji Gill and Rekesh Chauhan, with many premiering new tracks.
There will also be cultural dance performances, such as the Maher Raas Group, Sonia Sahbri Company and Bombay Dreams Dance academy. Plus an exciting range of dancers and visual artists. Presenters on the day include BBC Asian Network’s Murtz, Tommy Sandhu and Sonia Deol along with BBC WM’s Satnam Rana and Arshia Riaz.
The Kids Zone will be back with a wide range of children’s activities including facing paintings, rangoli making, dramas and games. The NIA concourse will be packed full of information and advice stands and food stalls offering mouth watering vegetarian Indian dishes.
Cllr Martin Mullaney, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Sport & Culture commented, “Birmingham City Council has an extensive annual programme of community events, and this free celebration for Diwali will be a great opportunity for residents and visitors to the city to get together to the share its Big City Culture and have fun.”
Sanjay Mistry, Vice President of the Hindu Council of Birmingham, said: “With limited capacity I would advise people to come early to guarantee entrance, especially as over the last few years this free event has grown immensely. It attracts on average 15,000 visitors during the day; and this year the event promises to be bigger and better!
“We are really pleased about taking the event into the NIA, will be transformed into a vibrant and colourful arena. The growing reputation of the event means that we are able to attract some of the biggest artists in the Asian music industry and some genuinely exciting new young talent from all spheres of the performing arts.”
The event provides an opportunity to celebrate one of the most important festivals in the Indian calendar. The true sprit of this Diwali event is to bring different communities together so that new relationships may be created bringing happiness, joy and reverence to the lives of the people of the West Midlands.
Diwali will take place in the heart of the city at NIA, King Edwards Road, Birmingham B1 2AA on Sunday 31 October from 2:00pm until 8.00pm. For more details log on to www.birmingham.gov.uk/diwali or www.hcb.org.uk
The Diwali event is organised by the Hindu Council of Birmingham with support from Birmingham City Council, also in association with XLN Telecom, Lycra Mobile, BBC WM, BBC Midlands Today, BBC Asian Network, Birmingham Mail, Sunday Mercury, National Sewa Day, Inco Software Solutions and Raaj FM.
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Media contact for BCC:
Amrit Sahota on 0121 303 8795 or 07766 923 352
amrit.sahota@birmingham.gov.uk
Media Contact for Hindu Council of Birmingham:
Sanjay Mistry on 07810 368 772
sanjay@prlimited.co.uk
Note to Editors
1. Diwali is the biggest celebration in the Hindu calendar, and is traditionally celebrated in India with a five day festival, which includes the familiar “Festival of Lights” on the third day.
2. The date of Diwali changes each year as it is dependent on the cycle of the moon – the celebration is held on the first Amavasya (no moon day) in the month of Kartik (October/November in the Western calendar). Diwali in 2010 falls on 5th November.
3. The Hindu Council of Birmingham, aims include:
· Promoting the Hindu Culture and the education of Hindus
· Providing advice and information for local, Public Authorities and Government Departments
· Acting as an Umbrella Organisation to the Affiliated Organisations (Sansthas)
Headliners
DCS – sound is for all generations and they have produced albums in Punjabi, Hindi and English that have gained world recognition and international airplay. The band has gone from strength-to-strength over the years building an army of fans world wide. They believe that their sound represents the identity of the British Asian, and they are proud to fly that flag all over the world. For more information visit www.dcs-band.com
Navin Kundra – Navin Kundra has established himself as one of the biggest British Asian stars. Whether it’s the slow mesmerising vocals on his smash hit love song, “Tere Liye”, or his most recently released dance track “Mehbooba”, Navin has attracted a loyal fan following across generations. His debut single “Tukde Tukde” went straight to number one while “Tere Liye” also smashed its way on to the charts, hitting the top three for an incredible 18 weeks, spending many weeks at number one on stations across the country. Navin, nominated for Best Male at the Bhangra Music Awards in 2009, is a firm favourite at Diwali in Birmingham. For more information visit www.navin-online.com
Karen David – The single Hypnotize established Indian born in the Brit Asian scene, with massive support from Radio 1’s Nihal and topping the Sunrise Network Chart. The single was written with Birmingham producers Kully B and Angus Clarke it features Mumbai stars IshQ Bector and Sonu Kakkar. Karen currently plays Cesca Montoya in Waterloo Road on BBC 1. For more information visit www.karendavid.com
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