Diwali Festivities and Bollywood Stars Mark a Landmark Season for Auckland's Indian Community
Auckland's South Asian diaspora celebrated a season of cultural milestones, with BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha organizing Diwali celebrations for children and families while New Zealand's inaugural dedicated Indian film festival launched with Bollywood star power at Hoyts Cinema Auckland.
🎉 BAPS Hosts Children's Diwali Programme in Auckland
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha, the global Hindu spiritual and humanitarian organization, organized Kids' Diwali Celebrations in Auckland, New Zealand in 2025. The BAPS Auckland centre forms part of the organization's Asia Pacific network, through which BAPS delivers programming spanning spiritual living, humanitarian services, culture and heritage, and the development of individuals across the region.
The Kids' Diwali Celebrations brought Auckland's youngest South Asian community members together to observe Diwali — the Hindu festival of lights — within a spiritually grounded and age-appropriate environment organized by BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. Children's programming under the BAPS banner is designed to draw the next generation into direct contact with the devotional traditions, cultural heritage, and values central to the Swaminarayan spiritual tradition, ensuring the living transmission of faith within diaspora communities. Across its global network, which spans India, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East, BAPS marks Diwali as one of the most significant annual occasions on the spiritual calendar.
Auckland's South Asian population has grown considerably in recent decades, and BAPS plays an active role in that community's cultural and spiritual life. The 2025 Kids' Diwali Celebrations reflected the organization's commitment to ensuring that Diwali remains a living, community-centred celebration for Indian diaspora children growing up in New Zealand, grounding them in the tradition and devotion that define BAPS's global approach to cultural continuity. [2]
🪔 BAPS Marks Diwali and Annakut in Auckland
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha organized Diwali and Annakut Celebrations in Auckland, New Zealand in 2025, marking the two-day festive observance that holds central importance within the Swaminarayan spiritual tradition.
Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, is celebrated with worship, communal gathering, and the illumination of homes and temples as an expression of joy and devotion. Annakut — a celebration observed the day after Diwali — centres on the ceremonial offering of food to the deity, a tradition of particular significance within BAPS. The combined Diwali and Annakut event reflects the devotional sequence observed at BAPS centres worldwide, where Annakut is one of the most visually elaborate and spiritually meaningful occasions of the annual calendar.
BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha maintains a global network with centres in India, North America, the United Kingdom and Europe, Africa, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East. Its organizational focus encompasses spiritual living, humanitarian services, culture and heritage, and the development of individuals. The Auckland centre, operating within the Asia Pacific network, serves New Zealand's South Asian community as a focal point for devotional, cultural, and humanitarian activity. The 2025 Diwali and Annakut Celebrations in Auckland brought the community together to observe these sacred occasions in the spirit of shared faith and festivity that defines BAPS's approach to marking the Diwali season. [3]
🎬 Bollywood Stars Launch New Zealand's First Indian Film Festival in Auckland
New Zealand's first dedicated Indian film festival officially launched in Auckland on 2 July 2026, with Bollywood actors Richa Chadha and Ali Fazal attending the brand launch event at Hoyts Cinema Auckland alongside a special screening of their acclaimed film Girls Will Be Girls.
The Indian Film Festival of New Zealand (TIFFNZ), founded and directed by Petrina D'Rozario, will run across Auckland, Wellington, and Christchurch from 23 to 25 October 2026. The inaugural edition is set to screen approximately 30 films across feature and short formats, alongside industry workshops, masterclasses, and networking events designed to foster collaboration between the Indian and New Zealand screen sectors.
The launch drew strong attendance from Auckland's Indian diaspora community, which numbers more than 300,000 nationally, along with screen industry representatives and cultural leaders including India's Consul General, Dr Madan Mohan Sethi. India's High Commissioner to New Zealand, H.E. Muanpuii Saiawi, stated at the event: "Cinema plays a profound role in the life of an Indian. It is no wonder that India has been producing the largest number of films in the world. Film is a powerful medium that brings our two peoples closer."
The centrepiece screening, Girls Will Be Girls, directed by Shuchi Talati and produced by Chadha and Fazal under their Pushing Buttons Studios banner, has won awards at the Sundance Film Festival and the Independent Spirit Awards. Chadha noted during the post-screening discussion that the film "has already changed a little bit of how women tell women stories in India." [6]
Sources: [2] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [3] BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha · [6] Asia Media Centre