19/10/2025
GRATITUDE POST.
It was MUCH more than just a bunch of dancers and friends hanging out having a good time at the Historic Village yesterday!
After a Diwali Festival like that, it's difficult to succinctly put into words the overwhelming layers of gratitude felt right now. One thing for sure is that it is impossible to consider all of the support that went into the Tauranga Diwali Festival 2025, with a dry eye. On behalf of One Love Charity, we'll give it a shot.
So much was achieved by our team, marketing, design, photographers, volunteers, greeting gate, contractors, funders, sponsors, waste team, art, performers, music, vendors, guests and our combined ethos of "facilitating one's inner fulfillment" come together each year. And this year it was BIG.
We are making a difference. Two or three thousand people came together for seven hours, supported by over 120 beautiful, dedicated artists, and many volunteers. This Festival is a sincere, honest and true drive to help change the way Diwali entertainment and culture is delivered in New Zealand. Thank you to all who were part of building this event!
Well now... then there was the event itself... WOOOWWW! 😮
This year's Tauranga Diwali Festival saw EVERY AREA of the event go up a notch... or three! We delivered a well organised, incredible show with a very personal, devotional touch, lauded by esteemed international guests, hand in hand with many top tier South Asian artists: it felt like a big family backstage. It is truly humbling when we hear it from our national artists... to hear this from artists who perform at Aotearoa's biggest Diwali events.
Our team this year melted our hearts every single hour of the event. There was a kind of magical sparkle present throughout each area: the craft and food vendors, the stage, the Rangoli making and diya painting, the sacred, quiet zone to light a diya and the greeting gate where volunteer Heather (in a wheelchair) would devotedly greet and farewell hundreds of Punjabi, Hindu, Kiwi and other guests during her two hour shift. Did you see her sitting there? A true desire to work together for a unified goal. ❤ Our Tauranga Diwali Festival team is simply INCREDIBLE. It is a real honour to work beside you all.
The highly enlivening Diwali energy was constantly flowing... a beautifully engaging experience that tantalized all senses throughout the whole festival. World class.
The community engagement of the Telugu, Punjabi, Malayali, Gujarati, Nepalese, West Bengal (and more) absolutely blew our minds. Their cooperation, teamspirit, care and dedication to detail and general loving vibes were the perfect fit in every way to our collective ambitions and dreams. What an honour to have you with us!
Our performers, dancers, singers and actors... 😮 😮 😮 we have actually (again) got a tear in our eyes thinking about just how incredible the artistic offerings of this year's Tauranga Diwali Festival were. What a display of utter joy for dance, expression of one's faith and spiritual background, feeling a sense of belonging in a place that is now one's new home. So far we have had nothing but incredible feedback from every corner on just how wonderful the artists' work was. Such skill, such engagement, such a gift for us all to soak up to fill up our hearts with a fresh outlook on life, and our ears with soulful kirtan. Every expectation was exceeded.
Our audience is the most beautiful crowd to cater to. If you ever wonder what drives our teams to deliver such an incredible fresh and heart-driven experience each year, it's you. This Diwali journey is an ongoing widespread message of bhakti (devotion) with thousands of people being curious to explore what life is truly about. What an honour it is to serve you.
Please forgive us if we've missed any area of this wonderful, collective achievement. Have a wonderful year, beautiful souls... keep the diya light lit within you.
See you at the Holi Colour Splash event on 7 March 2026 at Memorial Park.
P.S. Many more photos and videos to come soon...our photographers are working hard right now on going through hundreds of photos to pick the highlight photos. Thank you to Blissful Photography - NZ Motorsport Photography for sending through the first few highlight photos.
