In the light of my previous posts on Brent's decision to end grants for festivals it does not deem 'inclusive' I was interested to see a comment from Venilal Vaghela, Chair of Brent Diwali Advisory Board. Brent Council has said that it wants to combine various festivals together in one big 'Brent Celebrates' event. It has already lumped together Black History Month, Diwali and Halloween in the Word Up! event. LINK Its claim that Brent's Bonfire Night combines Diwali and Guy Fawkes is challenged by Mr Vaghela who says:
Our fireworks celebrate the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. The bonfire night fireworks stand for something completely different and the dates do not match. It would be like celebrating Christmas in January.Diwali is on October 26th this year and will be celebrated at the weekend. Bonfire Night at Barham Park is on November 5th. Perhaps Brent's insensitivity to the cultural meaning of events will mean that they combine Easter and St Patrick's Day in the Spring! They may even call it the 'Easter Uprising'...
