Dancing for Diwali

The bhangra-dancing police of Counties Manukau helped get Diwali off to an energetic start in front of tens of thousands of revellers in Auckland.

Aotea Square was packed with more than 20,000 people for the celebrations of the Hindu festival of lights, now one of the landmark events on New Zealand’s calendar of cultural events.

Acting Sergeant Mandeep Kaur says the cultural group practised for six weeks for the performance in front of what turned out to be their largest audience to date.

“It was beyond our expectations,” she says. “There was so much noise from the audience. We were so warmly welcomed and people were dancing along with us.”

The group has captured the public imagination since last year’s Diwali celebrations in Auckland, when two uniformed police members first danced with a community bhangra group.

“That’s when the thought came to mind – next year, what if we had the whole team in uniform rather than having a couple of people in uniform joining another community team?” says Mandeep. “Now that dream has come true.”

The group first performed at celebrations for the Vaisakhi harvest festival in April. It has since attracted interest which was reflected in media attention – including this feature on the Stuff website.

Mandeep says the members are grateful for support for their activities from the Police Executive.

“It’s definitely a very good way to engage with communities,” she says. “Happy communities celebrate together – that was shown by this performance and we look forward to many more.”

Click here for video of the performance at Aotea Square.

Diwali celebrations continue around the country. Click here to learn more about Diwali and here for more about bhangra.