Where can you celebrate Diwali Day in the Midlands?
ITV News Central reporter Rajiv Popat has been at Cossington Street Recreation ground as Diwali Day celebrations took place
Monday 24 October is Diwali day, a major event celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, as well as some Buddhists.
The celebrations for Diwali day culminate in a stunning fireworks display and live entertainment, with the festival being significant for various reasons according to the different faiths participating.
Diwali, which celebrates the triumph of good over evil as well as knowledge over ignorance, lasts five days, marking the start of the Hindu New Year.
It also marks a new beginning symbolised by the arrival of a new moon.
The exact dates change each year and are determined by the position of the moon – but it usually falls between October and November.
Where can you celebrate Diwali Day in the Midlands?
Leicester, Belgrave Road:
On Diwali Day, Monday 24 October, the Diwali Village will be on Cossington Street Recreation ground from 3pm.
A full stage programme of entertainment will begin at 6pm presented by the Leicester Hindu Festival Council.
Also worth looking out for is Dundu, a giant illuminated puppet, as it parades through the crowds along with the fireworks which start at around 8.10pm.
The Wheel of Light, a 110-foot ferris wheel that provides a glittering centrepiece to the festivities, will be on Belgrave Road until Sunday 6 November.
Key Times:
From 3pm: Diwali Village opens
From 5pm: Full closure of Belgrave Road
From 6pm: Stage programme
8.10pm: Fireworks
9pm: Diwali village closes
9.30pm: Belgrave Road reopens
What is the festival about?
Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil as well as knowledge over ignorance.
It also marks a new beginning symbolised by the arrival of a new moon.
The festival is significant for various reasons according to the different faiths participating:
Hinduism
For Hindus, it marks Rama and his wife Sita's eventual defeat of the evil spirit Ravana and celebrates their triumphant return to their kingdom in Ayodhya after a 14-year exile.
The story narrates that oil lamps were lit by passers by to guide them on their way home and to rejoice in their victory.
The festival of Diwali also celebrates the day Mother Goddess Durga destroyed a demon called Mahisha.
Sikhism
For Sikhs, Diwali marks and celebrates the release of the sixth Guru, Hargobind Singh from a Mughal Empire prison in 1619. Sikhs mark the day as Bandi Chhor Diwas.
However, Diwali was celebrated even prior to this.
In fact, the foundation stone of the Golden Temple at Amritsar - which is the most holy place in the Sikh world, was laid on Diwali in 1577.
Jainism
The founder of Jainism is Lord Mahavira. During Diwali, Jains celebrate the moment he reached a state called Moksha (nirvana, or eternal bliss - and freedom from the cycle of reincarnation).
It is said that the earth and the heavens were illuminated with lamps to mark the occasion of Lord Mahavira's enlightenment.