On Sunday, October 5, 2025, from 2:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., the Arts4all Foundation, elected officials, community organizations, and the community joined together for the Annual Diwali and Navaratri Festival and Parade at the historic World’s Fair Unisphere.
Thousands of New Yorkers from a variety of races, cultures, ethnicities, religions, and class backgrounds attended the festival and parade, according to organizers who described it as the largest Diwali celebration in Queens, and one which “celebrates New York’s diverse arts and culture, as well as supports the advancement of human rights, global peace, and harmony.”
Arts4All Foundation hosts a public, free, and inclusive Navarati and Diwali Festival and Parade Celebration at the iconic Unisphere annually to highlight the significance of the holidays in bringing people together for community progress, and advancing human rights, justice, peace, cultural exchange, and unity, the organization said in a press release.
At the event, the Arts4All Foundation provided over 1,100 pure vegetarian- meals, 1,500 toys, 1,000 balloons, 1,000 gold chocolate coins, face painting, henna and sticker designs, rangoli artwork, yoga, books, and several different family-friendly games, including a fashion show and bubble dance party, a Diya light show aarti, and a Garba dance parade, all for free and for the public to enjoy. Navdeep Singh, the owner of Punjabi Dhaba in Richmond Hill, Queens, provided the meals.
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Dr. Sumita SenGupta, the founder of the Arts4All Foundation and organizer of the celebration, said, “From the iconic Diya lights, intricate rangoli art decorations, soulful bhajan music, decadent food, and vibrant Garba dances to the inspiring stories of light overcoming darkness, Diwali and Navaratri are holidays that ignite the spirit of community-connectedness, peace, and solidarity.”
SenGupta added, “We are honored to host in Queens, the “World’s Borough,” at the iconic Unisphere a free and inclusive celebration that both showcases the rich artistry of the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities,” and noted the meals and toys shared with underprivileged New Yorkers.
New York State Senators Jessica Ramos, and John C. Liu, Assemblyman Edward C. Braunstein, Assemblywoman Catalina Cruz, Assemblyman Steven Raga, and Assemblyman David I. Weprin attended the festival and parade. Representatives from New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli and Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams’s offices also participated and joined in the celebration.
Ramos said, “Dr. Sumita SenGupta shared with us that one of the first community Diwali celebrations in Queens was over 50 years ago, held in the Flushing apartment of the late Honorable Uma SenGupta. What began as a small Diwali gathering of twenty people, Dr. Sumita SenGupta, in cherishing the memory of her late parents, has now expanded the celebration in which thousands of New Yorkers rejoice and come to celebrate Diwali.”
Others who similarly praised Dr. SenGupta and the festivals being celebrated and harkened back to Dr. Uma SenGupta’s tradition, included State Senator Liu, as well as Assemblymen Braunstein, Cruz, Raga, and Weprin.
The master of ceremonies was Parul Kumar, Mrs. Universe USA Elite 2024.
The festival saw performances by well-known singers and dances from different regions in India, Bangladesh, and the Caribbean showcasing artistic techniques and diversity of Vedic music and dance. Saregama Desi Beats, Neela Dance Academy, and talented artists from Queens participated in the festival. The performers were Vidhya Swami, Dipannita Chakrabarty, Ishika Barua, Namisha Patnaik, Asha Dua, Anil Dua, Yashswini Malhotra, Sia Gupta, Jyoti Gupta, Sana Gupta, Aatmikha Agarwal, Leeora Saamantha Lekhram, Yogini Oza, Rushil Ranjeet Patil, Navya Ranjeet Patil, Anjali Isaacs, Jasvir “Seema” Kaur, Gautam Chopra, Kaira Shah, Upendra Gupta, and Poonam Sachdev. Yomesh Sharma, Poonam Paliwal, and Priyanshi Siindhu. Eesha Mishra, Tarini Pardhan, Pretty Jain, Disha Singh, Priyanshi Sindhu, Naisha Vats, Saavi Singh, Kareena Parikh, Sweta Goswami, Shubra Goswami, Geeta Savla, Dr. Jagmohan Kalra, Dr. Bhavani Srinivasan, Madhu Sharma, Krish Kohli, Smita Patel, Ashwani K. Beri, Neeru Beri, Anil Gupta, Nisha Gupta, Kripa Prasad, and Anne Moffett.
The parade began at sunset and included a walking procession with Diya lights lit in people’s hands and rainbow-colored dandiya sticks, and participants dancing Garba around the Unisphere. At the end of the parade, the festival ended with a sunset Diya lights aarti ceremony to pay reverence to statues of Shri Ganesha, Shri Hanuman, Shri Durga, and Shri Radha Krishna at the center of the festival.