Winnipeggers celebrate festival of lights during the year's spookiest day in 'Diwaloween' mash-up
The core of both celebrations is making people happy, family says
Winnipeg trick-or-treaters may have found Halloween to be doubly sweet this year, with the annual celebration of all things scary falling on the same day as the South Asian festival of lights.
More than a billion Sikhs, Jains and Hindus all across the world celebrate Diwali every year with fireworks, candles — and lots of desserts.
This year, the main date of the multi-day celebration happened to coincide with Halloween.
In Winnipeg, some families took the opportunity to celebrate a scary-and-sweet mash-up — even if some found it difficult to reconcile the two very different traditions.
Sachin Tade said he and his family took about a month to plan how.
"My little one … said 'OK, we're going to celebrate Halloween.' My older one said, 'We're going to celebrate Diwali," Tade said.
"I said we're not doing that: We're celebrating both festivals. How are we going to do it? OK, let's sit down and think about it."
Tade's wife, Rashmi, said even coming up with decorations was a challenge.
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"I bought spider webs, but with Diwali we start with cleaning: We don't want any webs around the house," Rashmi said.
The couple eventually decided on setting up Diwali decorations indoors and keeping things Halloween-y outside.
Ghost-shaped Diwali treats
Shilpa Arora took a different approach.
"Half of my house is all lit up, with beautiful lights and then on the other side, there's a spooky inflatable and red-colour lighting on the other half of my house," she said.
"Even my mother-in-law is actually preparing some … traditional Diwali treats, but we are actually incorporating like the stencils you get from Dollarama and stuff, to make them more shaped like Halloween ghosts."
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Arora said her family wanted to still keep tradition while adding a Halloween twist.
She decided on wearing a sari, but with some Halloween-inspired makeup and jewelry. Others planned to show up to their family's gathering with outfits inspired by ghost-themed Indian films.
"My husband is … wearing a kurta with like a very big mask on top of it," Arora said. "Even though they are traditional costumes, they're going to have lot of Halloween drama added to it."
Sachin Tade said that while it was hard to make the fusion work, there are things both celebrations share in common.
"I think the spirit and the core of it is to make people happy," he said. "One way is to fill their tummy … and sweets are the best way."
With files from Felisha Adam