Festival invites culture with colour

Nirmala Narasimhan and Indu Singh are both very excited, as we sit and discuss the fashion show which was part of last week’s Indigo Festival.

Festival trustee Nirmala was involved in the first fashion show in 2002 and since then has seen more and more groups joining up.

“It is something that I love to do because I love the colours and love the idea of all the communities coming together. I love the dresses,” she says.

Nirmala moved from India to Hamilton during winter in 1999, and could not see past the grey skies and the black outfits everybody wore. “I need colour literally as if it’s my oxygen, because when I see that weather outside I feel so down. So I need this [the festival] as plenty of air and colour. I need to be me.”

When Nirmala is not out taking part in different aspects of her community, she teaches social development at Wintec. She hopes that for Wintec students and the public it will be a fantastic opportunity for them to have an insight into the different backgrounds and cultures people come from at the festival.

“I have learnt heaps and just loved being a part of so many community groups. One wouldn’t know exactly how a peasant would dress in China, I wouldn’t have known except that until they wore them as a group one year. It was so neat,” she says.

This year the fashion show featured 21 groups from different countries and each group decided whether they dressed in a theme or just their traditional dress. Whichever way the participants chose they were able to show the audience and also other cultures who they are.

“The natural pride people have in wearing something that they feel so comfortable in and [its] what they’re used to. It’s letting people know this is them, I think it’s just one of the most beautiful things,” Nirmala says.

The Indigo Festival used to be held in Hamilton every two years but may become annual after a huge demand from the local ethnic communities. Nirmala hopes that Indigo festival will become ‘Hamilton’s festival’ as it is the biggest gathering of ethnic groups in New Zealand.

Next year Indu takes over as the fashion show coordinator.  “This show gets people together – friends working for friends – communities working for communities, which is so wonderful,” she says.