As I have done for many years now, I joined hundreds of people late one Friday evening at Northampton College to celebrate the Festival of Navratri with the local Hindu community.
I support all faith communities in Northampton and try to attend the major festival days that are important to each religion and culture and I want everyone to feel welcome in our town. Northampton has always been a town where people of all backgrounds and faiths can find a home, our Jewish community for example now marking 130 years in Northampton as a community in modern times, and it is exactly this diversity which makes us all stronger.
Navratri is a period of worship spread over nine days to pay homage to the Hindu deity Durga and it is one of the most important events in the Hindu calendar. This year, the festival started on Tuesday 9th October. On the evening of Friday, 12th October I tried my hand at the traditional Garba dance – but I am afraid my style needs a lot of work. Some politicians are better at dancing than others!