‘It is a time of great joy’

Joy will be in the air this weekend, as local multicultural groups come together to celebrate the Krishna Janamastami festival alongside millions of people around the world.

Dunedin’s Hare Krishna community will host the celebration this Saturday, from 7pm at the Trinity Catholic College Auditorium, with support from the Dunedin Multicultural Council and the Dunedin Interfaith Council.

Hare Krishna community leader Jane Beecroft said the annual Hindu festival celebrated the birth of Krishna and would feature music, dancing, drama and free food.

"It is a time of great joy and we want to share it with everyone, to show the people of Dunedin that we are all united by love, respect and faith."

Dunedin City councillor Christine Garey will be festival guest speaker and there will be performances by four groups from Dunedin’s vibrant multicultural community.

"The auditorium will be beautifully, colourfully decorated and people will be able to move around, come and go and enjoy the food which will be available throughout the night," Ms Beecroft said.

"Our devotees will be making at least 108 dishes for the feast."

As the community surrounding Dunedin’s Hare Krishna temple at 133 London St continued to grow, the numbers attending the festival had outgrown the available space, Ms Beecroft said.

"Hence, we have moved the festival to the Trinity College Auditorium, where there is plenty of room to welcome the whole community to join us."

The Dunedin Interfaith Group provided a space for connection between about 20 faiths in the city, and it was great to have so many people coming together to make the celebration happen, she said.

"It’s pretty magic, and is a good representation of what we are looking to see in the world."

brenda.harwood@thestar.co.nz