Cohesion Plus working in partnership with local community partners in Dartford led by Cllr Avtar Sandhu MBE arranged a special Diwali Community Celebration on Friday 24th November at the Dartford Football Club.

The celebrations supported by Arts Council England were sold out and saw over 200 people in attendance including the Leader of Dartford Borough Council Cllr Jeremy Kite MBE and the Mayor Cllr Rosanna Currans.

Diwali is an important festival in the Hindu, Sikh and Jain faiths and this was reflected in the diversity of the audience in attendance.

Highlights at the event included performances by the Four by Four Bhangra Youth Club who performed a traditional bhangra dance from North India and the Kings of Dhol who fused eastern and western drum beats to the sounds of popular Bollywood tunes. The event was brought to a climax by the Platinum DJ’s who had everyone up and dancing.

Gurvinder Sandher MBE DL Artistic Director of Cohesion Plus commented “This was the first Diwali celebration we had produced in the borough and we were really pleased with how it was received. Diwali is about celebrating the triumph of light over darkness, it is a time for communities to come together and have fun which was the whole essence of our celebration and our work. Special thanks go to Cllr Avtar Sandhu whose community spirit meant that he worked tirelessly to make these celebrations inclusive, vibrant and memorable. I look forward to working with him again to put on similar community events in the area for the diverse communities of Dartford.”