Diwali, the Hindu annual ‘Festival of Lights’ will become a NYC school holiday in 2023: Mayor Adams

Mayor Adams announced plans Thursday to make Diwali, the Hindu festival of lights, an official New York City school holiday for the next academic year.

The holiday, which is also celebrated by Sikhs, Jains and some Buddhists, would replace Anniversary Day, or what was known for many years as Brooklyn-Queens Day, as a day off for city public school students.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams delivers remarks at the New York Puja Association’s Diwali Celebration at Gujarati Samaj Hall in Queens, New York on Saturday, October 1, 2022.

“When we acknowledge Diwali, we are going to encourage children to learn about what is Diwali,” Adams said Thursday morning at the Education Department’s headquarters in the Tweed Courthouse. “We’re going to have them start talking about what it is to celebrate the festival of lights and how do you turn the light on within yourself. There’s too many children in our Department of Education that believe their lives is one dark moment after a dark moment.”

The five-day Diwali festival originated several centuries ago in what is now India. It is associated with a variety of Hindu deities, including Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity, and Ganesha, the god of wisdom.

Dancers Sahana Madabhushi, left, Deeya Patel, and Harshita Shet, watch the performances during the Diwali festival at a Times Square celebration Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, in Manhattan, New York. (Kevin Hagen/)

Adams’ announcement comes two days before the holiday begins on Oct. 22. The main day of celebration comes on the third day of the festival — the same day that would ultimately be commemorated in city schools.

That is not likely to begin until the next school year, though, because making it a school holiday requires a bill to be passed in Albany.

Democratic Assemblywoman Jenifer Rajkumar, an ally of Adams who represents Glendale and Woodhaven in Queens, has introduced legislation to enact the change. It would essentially substitute Diwali for Anniversary Day, a necessary move given that state law dictates students receive at least 180 days of instruction each school year.

Bollywood-style dancers perform during the Diwali at a Times Square celebration Saturday, Oct. 7, 2017, in Manhattan, New York. (Kevin Hagen/)

Anniversary Day, which commemorates the anniversary of the first Protestant Sunday school in Brooklyn, has been celebrated on the first Thursday in June for decades.

“In removing the antiquated Anniversary Day school holiday that is observed by no one, my legislation makes the room for Diwali,” Rajkumar said while standing beside Adams. “For over two decades, South Asians and Indo-Caribbeans in New York have been fighting for the Diwali school holiday. I stand on the shoulders of those advocates.”