Celebrations in Leicester for the Hindu festival of Diwali

On this Day: October 27th, 1986

We head a bit further into the 1980s for On this Day, as Central News for the East Midlands brings viewers a report from Leicester by Central News’ Bharat Patel on the Hindu festival of Diwali.

The footage features views of a Leicester street with Diwali lights and shops with their windows proudly displaying Diwali signs. Central cameras capture views of children rehearsing a Diwali show at school.

There’s also an interview with some of the children, Bhavyang and Jayshree,  who talk about the cards and gifts of money they had received. Interview with Kishor Rajani, Sweet Mart owner, who said that he now sold fewer sweets as people were now more diet conscious.

Central Television replaced ATV in the Midlands in 1981. Initially a sub-company of ATV Network – launched as ATV Midlands LTD – Central Television eventually was sold off to the Carlton Communications Group and subsequently became ITV Central, part of the major ITV Studios network.