On the afternoon of October 24, 2026, the gym-and-cafeteria rhythms of Gideon Welles School in Glastonbury will give way to something older: rows of small clay lamps, the smell of sweets, the scratch of henna cones, and the sound of ankle bells. "Share The Light - Diwali Celebrations" runs from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. at 1029 Neipsic Road, and it costs nothing to walk in. The listing promises an evening of cultural programs, Diwali arts and crafts, henna and "delicious treats," and it is explicitly open to all.
The event is the work of Layavinyasa, a Connecticut-based Indian dance and music organization founded in 2010 by Sarada Nori. Nori is a Kuchipudi dancer and Carnatic singer who trained under Guru Sri Vempati Ravi Shankar and Guru Smt. Maddali Usha Gayathri, holds a master's degree in Kuchipudi from the University of SiliconAndhra, and is a graded artist on Doordarshan, India's national broadcaster. She is also a puppeteer of more than two decades' experience, and her company's stated mission is to build bridges between cultures using Indian art forms. Layavinyasa has staged work at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas in New Haven, where in 2017 Nori premiered "Prakrthi," a production blending Kuchipudi with contemporary puppetry to advocate environmental protection. The company has also worked with the Connecticut Council for Social Studies on incorporating Indian history into K-12 curricula, and Nori is a recipient of the Connecticut Office of the Arts' Artists Respond and Artists Fellowship awards.
This is not Layavinyasa's first Diwali in Glastonbury. In 2025 the company held a public "Share the Light" celebration in town on October 25, timed to the festival itself. The 2026 edition moves to Gideon Welles School and expands the frame: it is billed as a CT250 Affiliate event, part of the statewide commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
That affiliation is more than a logo. America 250 | CT, the state commission coordinating the anniversary, asks participating organizations to plan around four themes, and the one this event claims is "Tell Inclusive Stories" -- the commission's charge to "find stories that were previously untold or under-told, so all of Connecticut's residents can see themselves reflected in the 250+ year history of our nation." Affiliates must show that their values align with the commission's, including making programs welcome and accessible to as many people across Connecticut's communities as possible, accounting for physical, socioeconomic and language barriers. A free, open-to-all Diwali evening in a public school building is that criterion in practice.
Diwali itself is the festival of lights, named for the row (avali) of clay lamps (deepa) that families light outside their homes, a symbol of the inner light that protects against spiritual darkness. It is India's biggest and most important holiday of the year, and in Connecticut it now arrives in two registers: as a religious and cultural observance for the state's Indian American families, and as a public invitation to neighbors who have never lit a diya.
The Glastonbury program leans into the second. Cultural performances, crafts and henna are participatory rather than spectator-only, and the setting -- a school -- is a deliberate choice for a family audience. The event is free, but organizers ask attendees to RSVP in advance through the ticketing link on the listing.
There is a small historical echo in the venue's name. Gideon Welles was Abraham Lincoln's Secretary of the Navy, a Connecticut man born in Glastonbury, and the town's school and its Welles Street both carry the family name. Two hundred and fifty years after the Declaration, a festival from another continent will be celebrated in a building named for a man who served the government that document created -- which is, more or less, the point of "Telling Inclusive Stories."
For anyone in greater Hartford looking for a way into the 250th anniversary that isn't a lecture or a reenactment, this is a three-hour, no-cost, all-ages option: lamps, sweets, music, and a henna line. It runs 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, October 24, 2026, at Gideon Welles School, 1029 Neipsic Road, Glastonbury.