Party Themes for Diwali
Diwali is a time for bonding and partying. Why not have a theme for your Diwali party?
When we think ‘Diwali’ parties we think about lights, ‘diyas’, floating lamps, fresh flowers, tantalizing street food, dancing and music and loads of fun. Party themes range from the very traditional to the more contemporary and can be accommodated fit all budgets.
Here are some themes to make your party a truly memorable one!
The traditional party
This is enjoyed by most people since Diwali is a traditional festive occasion.
Decorations:
- All Diwali parties must have an abundance of lights. Strings of twinkling lights can be hired for the night to decorate the outside walls of the venue.
- Make a rangoli at the entrance of the venue with flowers or colorful powders with glitter mixed in water.
- If there is a water feature or big brass bowls, use floating candles or diyas and flowers to add beauty to the event.
- Light numerous diyas and/or tea-lights and place them on various surfaces. Ensure that the lights are at a suitable height to avoid any mishaps.
- Use bandhini or tie-and-dye dupattas for drapes or tablecloths.
- If you have seating with tables, place colorful tea-light holders surrounded by a small garland of flowers or a single lotus in the middle of the table.
- Instead of streamers, use garlands of flowers like yellow and orange marigolds, jasmine and roses to adorn the walls.
Menu:
- To avoid the extra toil of cooking, have someone cater the event. Have little kiosks or tables dedicated to serving street food like chaat, samosas, katti rolls, jalebis, etc.
- Have a table serving water, lime soda and coconut water.
- If you are making the food at home, make items like samosas and cutlets in advance and freeze them so they are ready to be fried on the day of the party.
- Place nuts and sweets on decorated plates on the tables for your guests to enjoy
Entertainment:
Music:
- If you have the budget, hire a DJ to handle the music for the evening.
- If you don’t wish to get a DJ, hire some speakers and a mixer and make a playlist on your phone, iPod or music system that will play tracks in the order you want.
Dance:
- Hire a dance professional or choreograph your own dance routine for the party. Get together with friends and family to rehearse the routine and coordinate the costumes. The practice sessions give you a chance to mingle and enjoy learning the dance.
- Hire dandiya sticks and include all guests in this traditional dance.
Fun activities
- Have a henna tattoo booth
- Get a large numbers of plain clay diyas and have the kids paint their own design on them.
The Bollywood party
Everyone loves Bollywood. Have a theme party based on this and you can be sure your party will be a success!
Decorations:
- Decorate the outdoors like you would the traditional party with flower garlands, diyas and rangolis. Add cutouts of clapperboards, film reels and other film-related stuff.
- At the entrance, have short strings of jasmine for people to wrap around their wrists.
- You could make garlands of old audio cassettes and unusable CDs/DVDs with the shiny side facing out.
- Arrange for a projector or big-screen TV to display images of various movie stars through the years
- Decorate the walls with printouts of movie posters in black and white and color.
Menu:
- Street food makes for a great idea for this theme as well. Have kiosks, stalls or tables serving assorted Indian street food, sweets and drinks.
- If your budget permits, have a professional cater the party with a very Indian-inspired menu.
- If you are making your own food for the event, keep it simple but with big and bold flavors. Make miniature samosas, cutlets, mini katti roles, kebabs, etc
Entertainment:
Music:
- You could hire a DJ to play Bollywood hits all through the party.
- Else, hire speakers and a mixer and make a playlist on your phone, iPod or music system that will play Bollywood tracks, both old and new.
- Get a karaoke machine so everyone can partake in some fun, singing songs ranging from the classics to the modern hits.
Dance:
- Hire a dance professional or choreograph your own dance routine for the party. Get together with friends and family to rehearse the routine. The practice sessions give you a chance to get together and enjoy learning the dance.
Fun activities:
- Have all your guests dress as their favorite Bollywood stars.
- Have a photographer take pictures of the guests on a decorative podium so they have a reminder of the fun they had. Have standing cutouts of film stars for guests to pose with for a photograph.
- Have a henna tattoo station.
Bohemian potluck party
Meet with friends and plan a potluck party. The advantages are that the menu is varied, your work time drastically reduced and even costs are cut considerably.
Decorations:
- Collect everyone’s decoration contributions and assign tasks to each one in the group. For example, some can hang lights, streamers and garlands on the wall, while others can be in charge of lighting and arranging diyas and drawing the rangolis.
- Go for a bohemian look by using old saris or dupattas as tablecloths.
- Instead of hiring chairs, use cushions and mattresses to sit on. Drape mattresses with ethnic bedspreads and use mirrorwork cushion covers.
Menu
- The concept of a potluck means that guests will contribute to the menu. Select a cuisine – be it Indian, Western, Chinese – or just have snacks and short eats. So guests know in advance what they need to bring.
- Have a buffet so everyone can eat whenever they would like and whatever they choose. Make sure you do not run out of food.
Entertainment:
- Try and organize a band to add to the fun factor. If you have friends who like singing, get them to join the band for a couple of songs.
- Get all your friends to dance and play a few rounds of Tambola/Bingo.
- If the venue permits, have a hookah station.
The Superhero party
This concept is fun to put together and is a theme that both adults and kids will enjoy.
Decorations:
- Make long garlands using the insignia/logos of various super heroes.
- Print A4 or A3 posters of various superheroes to put on the walls.
- Provide masks of superheroes for the kids. Templates for these masks can be found on the internet
Menu:
- Come up with superhero-inspired names for the various dishes. For example: ‘Lasso of truth jalebis’, ‘Kryptonite kutlets’, ‘Radioactive Ragda pattice’, etc.
Entertainment:
- Make a playlist of all the superhero theme songs.
- Have all your guests dress up in superhero costumes. You can have prizes for the best costume.
- Have a henna tattoo station where one can get a tattoo of a superhero insignia
The color-themed party
Decorations:
- Choose colors that are synonymous with Diwali. Decorate the venue using only the chosen colors. For example, if you have chosen red, orange, white and gold, at least one of these colors must feature in your decorations. Use red and orange flowers, diyas, streamers and rangolis.
- Use gold trim or ribbons to decorate the furniture.
- Using chart paper or glitter paper in the necessary colors and make cutouts of diyas, peacock feathers, elephants, etc.
- Place tea-light holders on tables and nooks.
- Invite friends via email or post asking them to dress in ethnic clothes in the chosen colors.
Menu:
- The most challenging of tasks is ensuring the food also features the chosen colors.
- It would be almost impossible to make all the food in the colors you have chosen. For example, using the above-mentioned colors, sweets can have gold foil on them or cherries or red, green and orange colored glace fruits.
- Have an ice cream station where children can decorate their own vanilla ice cream with toppings in the colors chosen. For example, you can use toppings like strawberry sauce, cherries, pistas, butterscotch sauce and more.
Entertainment:
- Dancing and music but naturally!
- Why not a prize for the best outfit?
