This article was last updated on April 16, 2022
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Raptors celebrate South Asian culture in first ever Diwali heritage night
South Asian culture was front and centre on Wednesday night as the Toronto Raptors took on the Charlotte Bobcats at the Air Canada Centre.
For the very first time, the Raptors dedicated a night in celebration of Diwali, a South Asian Festival of Lights. The evening featured performers before the game as well as a Bollywood-inspired dance performance at halftime.
“This event here is very special to us,” said Mukarram Mukri of Fresh Inc Mehndi. “Especially being able to highlight the South Asian community and some of the cultural stuff that we do and especially now with Toronto being such a multicultural diverse city. It’s a great opportunity for us to showcase some of our talents.”
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| Prior to the game representatives of Fresh Inc Mehndi offred free henna tatoos to all Raptors fans |
Prior to the game, all fans in attendance were given the opportunity to have free henna tattoos, better known as ‘mehndi’ in the South Asian community.
“What we’re doing is showing henna, or what we called mehndi, application," added Mukri. "We’re doing tattoos in traditional styles and we’re just happy to be able to showcase some of the art form and share that with the people of Toronto.”
Rajeev Bhalla, President of Infinite Creations Entertainment (ICE), worked with the Raptors in putting the event together including the impressive halftime Bollywood show. The show featured an all-star line-up of 25 performers from Diyas Arts & Entertainment.
“Promoting the community itself, it’s a big thing,” said Bhalla. “We see a night like Baisakhi (Sikh holiday celebration), what they do every year, we got to do something for Diwali. It allows many heritages to come together so it’s a really big event.”
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| Dholi Tanveer also drummed up some excitement with a pre-game performance playing the dhol for fans entering the ACC |
The event was the third in a series of many heritage nights hosted by the Raptors in celebration of Toronto’s diverse multicultural community. Unfortunately, the team was unable to deliver a victory to its fans on this night as Toronto lost to Charlotte 101-96 in the dying seconds of the game.
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| Dancers perform in the Bollywood-inspired halftime show |
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