Winnipeggers celebrate festival of lights during the year's spookiest day in 'Diwaloween' mash-up

Winnipeg trick-or-treaters may have found Halloween to bedoubly sweet this year,withthe annual celebration of all things scary falling on the same day as the South Asian festival of lights.

More than a billion Sikhs, Jains and Hindus all across the world celebrate Diwali every year with fireworks, candles and lots of desserts.

This year, the main date of the multi-day celebrationhappened to coincide with Halloween.

In Winnipeg, some families tookthe opportunity to celebrate a scary-and-sweet mash-up even if some found it difficult to reconcile the two very different traditions.

Winnipeg family fuses the celebration of Diwali, Halloweeen

8 days ago

Duration 2:28

The Tade family set up Diwali decorations, ate traditional sweets and lit lights indoors and later kept things Halloween-y outside.

Sachin Tade said he and his family took about a month to plan how.

"My little one said'OK, we're going to celebrate Halloween.' My older one said, 'We're going to celebrate Diwali," Tade said.

"I said we're not doing that: We're celebrating both festivals. How are we going to do it? OK, let's sit down and think about it."

Tade's wife, Rashmi, said even coming up with decorations was a challenge.

Watch |Diwali celebration illuminate Halloween night for Winnipeg family

Diwali celebrations illuminate Halloween night for Winnipeg family

9 days ago

Duration 1:34

A Winnipeg family got to celebrate two very different traditions Thursday, as the main day of Diwali the South Asian festival of lights fell on the same date as Halloween.

"I bought spider webs, but with Diwali we start with cleaning: We don't want any webs around the house," Rashmi said.

The couple eventually decided on setting up Diwali decorations indoors and keeping things Halloween-y outside.

Ghost-shaped Diwali treats

Shilpa Arora took a different approach.

"Half of my house is all lit up, with beautiful lights and then on the other side, there's a spooky inflatable and red-colour lighting on the other half of my house," she said.

"Even my mother-in-law is actually preparing some traditional Diwali treats, but we are actually incorporating like the stencils you get from Dollarama and stuff, to make them more shaped like Halloween ghosts."

Listen| Diwali and Halloween celebrations line up in Winnipeg

Information Radio - MB8:13Diwali --also known as the festival of light will light up the skies tonight--on the same night as Halloween. So what happens when two very different traditions are celebrated at the same time?

Shilpa Arora shares how she feels about about the day and what happens when west meets east in one family's home tonight as they get ready to celebrate BOTH Diwali and Halloween

Arora said her family wanted to still keep tradition while adding a Halloween twist.

She decided on wearing asari, but with some Halloween-inspired makeup and jewelry. Othersplanned to show up to their family's gathering with outfits inspired by ghost-themed Indian films.

"My husband is wearing a kurta with like a very big mask on top of it," Arora said. "Even though they are traditional costumes, they're going to have lot of Halloween drama added to it."

SachinTade said that while it was hard to make the fusion work, there are things both celebrations share in common.

"I think the spirit and the core of it is to make people happy," he said. "One way is to fill their tummy and sweets are the best way."