The Camosun College Student Society (CCSS) is bringing its Diwali festival celebration back to campus this year. On Monday, October 24 from 6 pm to 9 pm, the Lansdowne campus will be set alight with colours, dancing, music, and culture.
Also called the Festival of Lights, Diwali is heavily celebrated in India. This festival is observed by Hindus, Sikhs, and Jains, and it usually lasts up to five days. Diwali is celebrated through various traditions and rituals, like food, special candles and diyas (oil lamps), fireworks, and family gatherings.
CCSS advocacy and outreach coordinator Michael Glover says events like this are important for Camosun’s international students. (Attendees must be current Camosun students with student ID, and can bring a guest.)
“I think it’s really important to make the international community feel supported here,” says Glover. “The international students are spending a lot of money to be here, and they can come to campus and feel lost… Wherever we can put the students together and have that interaction enhances the experience and makes Camosun the place you’re going to remember when you’re older.”
Glover says the issue with hosting events on campus at night is the potential for low attendance. But so far, that hasn’t been the case for this festival.
“It gets a lot of pickup. It’s one that we know will be successful,” he says. “It’s hard to find people that want to come back to campus at night, just because they’re spread out, but there’s a real motivation for this one. It’s been a good one for us.”
Glover says that students should expect music and lots of dancing at the festival, along with food boxes made by local caterers.
“It really is a big dance party,” he says. “There are a few little ceremonial pieces that’ll come together, but, it’s kind of just a freeform dance party. And, we will be getting boxes of food made off campus by one of the local restaurants, and they’ll be a snack and two sweets… And then DJ, light show, that kind of thing.”
Glover says that he’s most excited about the opportunity that events like these can bring to the student experience at Camosun.
“I’m always excited whenever we can create campus life,” he says. “Where students get to experience each other and have fun and have that college experience. It’s always been a challenge to create that. So, my mission is to look for opportunities to do that. It’s a party. People are excited about it, it’s really important to people. So, whenever you can satisfy that need, that’s great.”