The Rise of the Diwali Party
By Romen Basu Borsellino | 23 Oct, 2025

Lavish parties have recently become a staple of the annual festival of lights. Some even wonder if it’s too much.

Chappell Roan attended Lilly Singh's 2025 Love and Light Diwali party

South Asian Comedian Zarna Garg posted a video last year calling out a perceived superficiality surrounding the celebration of Diwali. 

“What is going on with Diwali in America?” she asks. “Everybody has suddenly discovered their love for Diwali. Everybody is in bridal hair and makeup…We get it!”

And then she looks at her phone. 

“Wait…I just got invited to a Diwali party”

Suddenly, Garg is dressed to the nines, obsessing about how she needs to look as glamorous as possible because, after all, “It’s Diwali.”

It’s a near-perfect satire on the rise of the lavish Diwali party, a cultural touchstone for South Asian Americans that has seemingly popped up out of nowhere over the past several years.

Diwali, typically celebrated in the fall, is the Hindu festival of lights. The festive occasion is observed with loved once over food and drink and includes lighting small oil lamps called diyas as well as sparklers and even fireworks to celebrate the triumph of good over evil. 

While the importance of Diwali to Hindus has always rivaled that of Christmas to Christians and Yom Kippur to Jews, the way we celebrate it in the US has evolved to include fancy clothing, social media flexing, dancing, and high end booze.

Lilly Singh's 2025 Diwali party

The Hottest Parties

In 2021 actor Kal Penn noted on Instagram that when he first got to LA years ago his Diwali celebrations consisted of a few friends gathered together in one of their UCLA dorm rooms. 

Now he’s posting pictures in dazzling tailor-made kurtas at Diwali parties hosted by Lilly Singh and Priyanka Chopra.

As Zarna Garg pointed out, the attire for these parties resembles those of weddings. Party attendees will literally go to India months in advance to select their outfits in preparation for Diwali party season. And, yes, in most cases, it’s actually cheaper to fly to India and back than to pay the inflated prices of Indian clothing that’s been imported to the US.

The parties are not unlike the balls surrounding a presidential inauguration. Each is a unique and extravagant event with its own personality, though you’ll tend to run into the same guests. 

Here are just a few that have made headlines this month:

Obama was the first president to light a diya in the Oval Office

All That Glitters 

Those who attended the All That Glitters Ball in New York on October 11 were likely greeted by actress Priyanka Chopra Jonas and her husband Nick Jonas as they entered. It’s become an annual event hosted by Anjula Acharia, Chopra Jonas’s manager.

The 220-person guest list was composed largely of entertainers and hospitality and city government workers. 

Per Acharia, the goal this year was to highlight the impact that South Asians have had on New City culture through fashion, city government, and even the NYPD, just to name a few. 

Suffice it to say, South Asians may have an even greater impact in those fields a year from now under an Indian American Mayor Zohran Mamdani.

Diwali on the Hudson

This 400-person Diwali bash in NY also served the purpose of supporting a charity. The Desai Foundation “empowers women and children in rural India through community programs that elevate health, livelihood, and menstrual equity.” The annual event, now in its 12th year, began as a small gathering but has evolved into a sold out celebration that features well known South Asian food and drink staples like Kolkata Chai Co. and Rampr Whiskey.

It’s hosted by CBS News correspondent Shanelle Kaul and Desi pop star Shevya Awashti

Lilly Singh’s Love and Light Party

In LA, actress and former late night talk show host Lilly Singh held her annual Diwali bash with attendees that included her fellow South Asian entertainers such as the cast of Delhi Boys and Zarna Garg herself as well as singer Chappel Roan. 

In past years, the lavish event had featured performances by singers Jay Sean and Rachel Platten and even a taco bell buffet. Indian Americans tend to love taco bell because it has the most vegetarian options of any fast food chain.

Political Partying

Diwali observations have also become a staple of American politics. 

While George W. Bush’s administration held a 2004 Diwali reception that he did not personally attend, Barack Obama’s 2009 celebration marked the first ever White House Diwali party by a sitting President. 

During a more understated event in 2011, President Obama lit a diya in the Oval Office.

In 2016, then-first President Joe Biden threw a Diwali party at hisNaval Observatory house with attendees that included actors Kal Penn, Hasan Minhaj, and Asif Mandvi. It was much bigger in scale than Obama’s previous events.

Years later, when Biden held the Presidency, both he and Vice President Kamala Harris, the first ever South Asian to hold the position, would continue the tradition with large 200+ attendee Diwali parties at the White House

And during his first term, President Trump lit a diya in the Oval Office and delivered remarks to commemorate Diwali. 

Trump did so again this past Tuesday with a celebration that included notable Hindus in his administration such as FBI Director Kash Patel and National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard as well as India’s Ambassador to the United States.

Pushback

The rise of Diwali’s party culture has also been met with criticism. While certainly not the only one to speak out, the following social media post by Indian American celebrity chef Priyanka Naik generally captures the sentiment:

"This might ruffle some feathers, but I have to say - hosting some “exclusive” “Diwali” party where you only invite who you think it’s important or influential (currently) and dress to the nines in over the top Indian clothes, does not make you more spiritual, more Indian or more closer to what the actual purpose of Diwali is. I think people are losing sight of the deep-rooted and ancient history/customs of Diwali."

I can see where she’s coming from. As tends to be the case with any major holiday, there becomes a risk of commercialization to the point that those celebrating lose all meaning of what they’re actually there for. 

A culture of such ostentatious parties also runs the risk of making the holiday into something exclusionary. Watching celebrities and influencers get invited to such lavish events inevitably leads to hurt by those who are left out. 

But at the same time, I’m also inclined to write off the criticism the same way I feel about those who bemoan the festive nature of Christmas and insist that “we need to put the CHRIST back in Christmas.”

Who are we to gatekeep how someone celebrates a holiday? 

Not to mention that the more visible Diwali becomes in the US — whether through news coverage of these parties or Instagram feeds cluttered with glamorous shots from those who scored invited — the more those who celebrate in any capacity are likely to feel accepted. 

Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to get a kurta ironed. I may have only been invited to one party this year, but I need everyone on social media to know.