6 minute read
Culture & Community
San Antonio’s Festival of Lights
By Susan Yerkes
Dancing lights, the sparkle of jewels on a shimmering silk sari, the colorful grace of traditional Indian dances... San Antonio lights up for Diwali, the “Festival of Lights.” The holiday, celebrated in India and throughout Asia, is a joyful occasion—and part of the enchanting tapestry of cultures here.
“The lights of Diwali signify the triumph of good over evil,” said Santanu Das, Vice President of the India Association of San Antonio. For Das and many other India expats, the celebration evokes happy recollections, and serves as a bridge to Indian culture for the whole community.
“Most of our childhood memories around Diwali revolve around meeting friends and family, new clothes, homemade sweets, lights—and the single most important thing—fireworks!” Das said. “San Antonio has been a home-awayfrom-home for many India-origin families. The India Association goes to great lengths using this festival to bring the community together to celebrate it with grandeur.”
Last year, Covid put the kibosh on big Diwali celebrations. But this year, the India Association celebrated Oct. 30 with a major event, combining the festivities with its annual Festival of India, usually held in the spring. Hundreds of members of the association and friends from around the city gathered to enjoy the flavors of home with traditional music and dance performances and savory snacks that evoke India’s regional cuisines.
The association’s bash has grown from a relatively small event to a much larger one, as professionals and their families from India have moved here— many drawn by tech jobs at major corporations including USAA, Valero and Rackspace, all headquartered here. The city’s constantly expanding medical centers have brought many Indian physicians here, as has the thriving hotel business, according to Das.
SA India Association
SA India Association
SA India Association
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DIWALI SA
www.Anujasa.com/diwali-sa
INDIA ASSOCIATION OF SAN ANTONIO
www.IndiaSA.org
diwaLi FaCts
• Diwali has become the most celebrated holiday season in India—think Christmas or Thanksgiving in the U.S. In India it is a five-day festival, marked by prayer, feasts, family gatherings and fireworks. Today, the holiday has become more widely popularized, and cities and towns worldwide host Diwali celebrations.
• The word Diwali comes from the Sanskrit dipavali, meaning “row of lights.” In India, many families and businesses display rows of lighted clay lamps.
• Diwali’s formal dates, usually in October or November, are based on the Hindu lunar calendar, which marks the months by the time it takes the moon to orbit Earth.
• For many businesses in India, the fourth day of Diwali is considered the first day of the financial new year.
• Buddhists, Sikhs and Jains also celebrate Diwali as a religious holiday. While each religion has its own origin story, all of them center on the triumph of good over evil.
•. Fireworks—both big displays and family fireworks in the streets—have come to be a major part of India’s Diwali celebrations. In the city of Delhi, so many people set off fireworks that they were banned because of resulting air pollution.
Diwali SA
This month, another, much larger Diwali celebration is set for Nov. 6. It is Diwali SA. The festival, a free city-wide bash in Hemisfair Park, developed from San Antonio’s sister city relationship with the Indian city of Chennai (formerly Madras).
Since Diwali is celebrated in many Asian countries, the two cities chose it as a yearly festival to reach from Texas to India, says Kausi Subramaniam, owner of Kalalaya Indian Arts and president of Anuja, the sister city organization that organizes Diwali SA. “It is something more universal than smaller festivals in Chennai’s state, Tamil Nadu, and it is also celebrated in some form or fashion by people of all religions in India. Everybody participates,” she said.
The city’s Covid precautions scotched Diwali SA in 2020. But in 2019, Subramaniam says more than 40,000 folks came to the one-night celebration (in part, because of a huge Day of the Dead party across the street in La Villita, she added.)
This year the festival will offer more social distancing room. It will also feature more lights than ever. For the first time, the entire park will be professionally illuminated, with dancing lights set to music. Even the ground will be dressed up with floor art displays like those made in many Indian homes for the holiday. Traditional Indian dance and music will be on several stages, and food stands will perfume the air with the rich smells of Indian cooking. Floating candles will fill the Hemisfair fountain by the Tower of the Americas.
“We light the candles for our guests to put in the water and make a wish,” Subramaniam says. “This year the ceremony will be more reflective, as we think of what we have all been through in the last year.”
WRITER’S BIO
Susan Yerkes is an award-winning journalist and travel writer based in San Antonio. She has celebrated Diwali in India, and continues to celebrate diversity, and the victory of light over darkness in troubled times.
FORD HOLIDAY RIVER PARADE
FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2021 The 40th Annual Ford Holiday River Parade is a San Antonio tradition that officially kicks off the city’s holiday season. Under a canopy of 100,000 bright and colorful lights draped over the towering bald Cypress Trees that line the River Walk, festive and lighted floats usher in the holidays in a spectacular one-hour parade. Themed “40 Years of Magic” for the 2021 season, two special additions are included in this anniversary edition.
San Antonio actor Cody Garcia will star as Grand Marshal Willy Wonka in a musical performance at the start of the parade, similar those during the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York, and he will resume the role in the Majestic’s Broadway production of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory the following week, December 7-12. For a pre-parade show, illuminated kayaks, sponsored by Mission Kayaks, will cruise the river.
This ticketed parade begins at 6:00pm and is broadcast live at 7:00pm at the Arneson River Theater. Several free viewing areas are offered along the parade route (bring your own chair) on a first-come basis between Richmond Avenue and Pecan Street on the east side of the River Walk. Early ticket prices range from $15 -$40 and children 2 years of age or older will need a ticket. Strollers and carriers are not allowed on the River Walk for this event. ADA tickets are available in certain areas.
FORD HOLIDAY BOAT CAROLING
DECEMBER 2-23, 2021 Celebrate the timeless tradition of spreading joy with a San Antonio twist. Sing in the holidays by caroling with friends and family from your private, one-hour rented boat on the River Walk, and encourage spectators along the banks of the river to join in the fun as you drift by! Caroling boats are decorated with lights and holiday bling and include a driver, a USB loaded with popular Christmas music and folders with music lyrics. Each boat can accommodate a maximum of 15 people (children under the age of 2 are not counted toward boat capacity). Other types of festive holiday music such as mariachis, bell-ringers and bands are also welcome to book a caroling boat. With two timeslots on Mondays through Thursdays and three on Fridays through Sundays, merry songs fill every evening during the holiday season.
FORD FIESTA DE LAS LUMINARIAS
DECEMBER 3-19, 2021 Experience the holiday ambience of the San Antonio River Walk as you stroll along the lush banks guided by more than 2,000 glowing luminarias—the traditional Mexican Christmas lantern originally consisting of a candle set in sand inside a small bag. This centuries-old tradition begins at dusk Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays for three weekends in December.
