Diwali in the West End

On November 14th, Gordon Neighbourhood House celebrated Diwali with West End neighbours. Diwali takes place over five days and is known as the festival of lights. It is the biggest holiday of the year in India, and many homes and businesses are decorated with lanterns, diyas, and lights.

Gordon Neighbourhood House staff decorated the exterior of our building with a brightly coloured, fifty foot-long ‘Toran’ banner inspired by designs found in Southern India with traditional colours inspired by marigolds and mangos.

Local artist Geetanjal Joshi also created a rangoli-inspired emblem for our balcony with artwork featuring Lord Ganesh, one of the best-known and most-worshipped Hindu deities. 

Children in our Out of School Care program also learned about the celebration, and made paper lanterns which were displayed in our front windows, and a blog post encouraged families to make lanterns at home. 

Our Community Chef Amanda Bacaleinick, Food Programmer Stephanie Woo, and Front Desk Manager Jessy Scaria also prepared fifty Diwali-inspired meals with aloo gobi, palak paneer, and vegetable pulao which were delivered by bicycle to seniors with heightened risk during the pandemic.

We look forward to hopefully celebrating Diwali in-person next year.