SBS celebrates Festivals of Lights with programs, stories and recipes – SBS is marking Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar with multilingual stories, television, film, food programming, podcasts and free teaching resources. The broadcaster says more than one million Australians celebrate these Festivals of Lights, with community events already under way ahead of key traditions from Friday 6 November.
For viewers, the initiative goes beyond a single program or broadcast night. SBS is connecting its television channels, SBS On Demand, SBS Audio and SBS Learn around the celebrations, with local stories from communities across the country. Its national guide also points to events in NSW, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania, Victoria and Western Australia.
Stories from Australian communities
SBS Managing Director Jane Palfreyman said the programming aims to help audiences understand the traditions and communities behind the celebrations.
The Festivals of Lights are a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the cultures and traditions that make Australia so diverse, bringing families and communities together. Through SBS, audiences can discover the stories behind Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar, from personal stories and recipes to teaching resources. By sharing the voices and experiences of the many communities who celebrate these festivals, we can help all Australians gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and find more ways to connect. We’re proud to bring these stories to audiences across the country.
Jane Palfreyman, SBS Managing Director
Across SBS Audio, Bangla, Chinese, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Our Pacific, Punjabi, Russian, Sinhala, Spice, Tamil and Telugu services will share personal stories and explainers. A What is Diwali? Understanding the Festivals of Lights explainer is available in 28 languages.
SBS Nepali meets the first Hindu chaplain in the Australian Defence Force and looks at how multifaith personnel mark the festivals. SBS Punjabi visits a northern NSW coastal town where Australia’s first Sikh temple was inaugurated in 1968. SBS Spice hears from Nepalese Australians balancing celebrations with grief after recent flash floods.
SBS Tamil explores different perspectives on Ravana and Deepavali and the ways identity and history shape interpretations of the story. Our Pacific talks with Tavi Sharma about Indo-Fijian food, family and celebrations. SBS Russian and SBS Chinese present stories of multicultural couples celebrating Diwali.
What to watch on SBS and SBS On Demand
The Celebrating Diwali | Deepavali collection on SBS On Demand brings together seven curated shelves of film and television. On SBS2, the dark crime comedy Deli Boys begins its first season on Sunday 8 November from 8.30pm. It follows two Pakistani American brothers who inherit a convenience store with ties to the criminal underworld.
Hindi Vindi, which blends Australian hip-hop with traditional Hindi music, screens on SBS World Movies at 8.30pm on Sunday 8 November. Food documentary Not Your Butter Chicken airs on SBS Food from Tuesday 3 to Friday 6 November at 5.00pm. A Diwali episode of Donal’s Festival Kitchen follows on SBS Food at 7.00pm on Sunday 8 November.
News and classroom resources
SBS Learn is providing free classroom materials for Australian teachers. For the first time, selected resources are available in 11 languages: Arabic, Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Mandarin, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhala, Tamil and Telugu. An interview with former MasterChef Australia contestant Depinder Chhibber explores food, family and Diwali traditions.
SBS News will travel to remote Northern Territory towns to tell migrant community stories. Among those featured are the Indian-Sri Lankan family behind Southern Spice Authentic Asian Cuisine and Nish, whose Why Not by Nish salon draws on experience cutting hair for cricket identities and working in Bollywood before her current work with Indigenous communities.
For more TV Central SBS coverage, head here. Explore the public SBS Festivals of Lights hub for programs, stories and community events.
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