short essay on my favourite festival

Essay On My Favourite Festival

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Festivals hold a special place in our hearts, bringing joy, togetherness, and a sense of cultural identity. Each festival carries its unique charm and significance. In this blog, we’ll explore my favorite festival and share essays of varying lengths to capture the essence and celebration of this special occasion. To help you with your essay writing , we’ve prepared a series of essays in simple words. Whether you need a 150-word overview or a more detailed 500-word essay on the topic “My Favourite Festival”, we’ve got you covered.

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Essay On My Favourite Festival 1: 150 Words

My favorite festival is Diwali, celebrated with immense joy and enthusiasm in India and among the Indian diaspora worldwide. Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is the Festival of Lights and holds a special place in my heart.

Diwali spans five days, each with its significance. The festival begins with Dhanteras, where people buy gold and utensils, followed by Naraka Chaturdashi, when we light oil lamps and celebrate Lord Krishna’s victory over the demon Narakasura.

The main day of Diwali involves prayers, elaborate rituals, and the lighting of diyas (oil lamps) to welcome Goddess Lakshmi, the deity of wealth and prosperity. Homes are decorated with colorful rangoli, and families exchange gifts and sweets. The evening sky is ablaze with fireworks, creating a spectacle of light and color.

Diwali is not just a festival of external celebrations; it’s also a time for inner reflection and renewal. It reminds us of the victory of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil. Diwali encourages us to embrace goodness, compassion, and unity.

Essay On My Favourite Festival: 200 Words

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is my favorite festival. It’s celebrated by millions of people across the globe, making it one of the most significant festivals in India. Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. The festival spans five days and is a time of immense joy, spirituality, and togetherness.

During Diwali, our homes are adorned with beautiful oil lamps and colorful rangoli designs. We exchange gifts and sweets with friends and family. The highlight of Diwali is the bursting of fireworks, lighting up the night sky with a mesmerizing display of colors.

For me, Diwali is not just about the festivities but also about the deep-rooted traditions and values it represents. It’s a time to seek blessings from elders, visit temples, and offer prayers for a prosperous and harmonious life.

Diwali brings people together, transcending cultural and religious boundaries. It’s a festival that spreads happiness, love, and goodwill among all. The spirit of Diwali reminds us to illuminate our hearts with kindness and compassion, just as we light lamps to dispel darkness.

Essay On My Favourite Festival: 250 Words

Holi, the vibrant and colorful festival of India, is my absolute favorite. Celebrated with unparalleled enthusiasm and energy, Holi marks the triumph of good over evil, the arrival of spring, and the celebration of unity and joy.

The festival usually falls in March and is a two-day affair. The first day, known as Holika Dahan, involves lighting bonfires to symbolize the victory of good over evil. It’s a time for prayers and reflection.

The main day of Holi is a riot of colors and exuberance. People gather in streets and open spaces, armed with colorful powders and water balloons. The air is filled with laughter, music, and the shouts of “Holi Hai!” as friends and strangers alike drench each other in hues of red, green, yellow, and blue. It’s a day when social barriers dissolve, and everyone becomes equal in the kaleidoscope of colors.

Holi also boasts a mouthwatering array of traditional sweets and snacks like gujiyas and thandai. Families come together to prepare these delicious treats, enhancing the sense of togetherness.

What makes Holi truly special is its universal appeal. It transcends age, religion, and nationality, inviting people from all walks of life to partake in its colorful revelry. It’s a festival that spreads happiness and strengthens bonds, whether with family, friends, or even strangers.

In conclusion, Holi is much more than just a festival of colors; it’s a celebration of life, love, and unity. Its vibrant spirit, cultural richness, and the sheer joy of playing with colors make it my favorite festival. Holi leaves an indelible mark on the hearts of those who experience its magic, fostering a sense of togetherness that is truly unforgettable.

Essay On My Favourite Festival: 300 Words

Christmas, my favorite festival, is a time of immense joy, love, and celebration that brings families and communities together in a spirit of togetherness and giving. It’s a time when the world seems to glow with warmth and happiness.

The beauty of Christmas lies in its universal appeal, transcending borders and beliefs. It celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ, who is regarded as a symbol of love, peace, and goodwill. However, even for those who may not observe it as a religious holiday, Christmas holds a special place as a season of kindness and generosity.

One of the most cherished aspects of Christmas is the tradition of gift-giving. It’s a time when we exchange thoughtful presents with our loved ones, expressing our affection and appreciation for each other. The joy of giving is as profound as the joy of receiving.

Decorating the Christmas tree is another highlight of the season. The sparkling lights, colorful ornaments, and tinsel create a magical atmosphere in homes and public places. The aroma of freshly baked cookies and the sound of carolers singing festive songs fill the air with happiness.

One cannot forget the excitement and anticipation that build up as Christmas Day approaches. Children eagerly await the arrival of Santa Claus, believing in his magical ability to deliver gifts. The act of hanging stockings by the fireplace in hopes of finding surprises the next morning is a delightful tradition.

In addition to the festivities, Christmas is a time for reflection and gratitude. It reminds us to be thankful for the blessings in our lives and to extend a helping hand to those in need. Many engage in acts of charity and volunteerism during this season, embodying the true spirit of Christmas.

Christmas brings families and friends together, fostering a sense of unity and love. It’s a time when people set aside their differences and come together to celebrate the values of love, compassion, and forgiveness.

In conclusion, Christmas is not just a festival; it’s a feeling of warmth, love, and togetherness. It reminds us of the importance of kindness, generosity, and gratitude. For me, Christmas is a time to cherish the company of loved ones, make lasting memories, and celebrate the beauty of the human spirit. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year.

Essay On My Favourite Festival: 500 Words

Among the myriad festivals celebrated in India, Diwali, also known as Deepavali, stands out as my favorite. This Festival of Lights is not only a time of external celebrations but also a period of profound spiritual significance, family togetherness, and cultural pride.

Historical and Religious Significance: Diwali holds historical and religious significance in various cultures and faiths. In Hinduism, it marks the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after his victory over the demon king Ravana. It also symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness, knowledge over ignorance, and good over evil.

Spiritual and Cultural Significance: For me, Diwali is not just a festival; it’s a spiritual journey. It’s a time to light the inner lamps, dispelling the darkness of ignorance and ego. The festival encourages self-reflection, forgiveness, and the pursuit of righteousness. It serves as a reminder to be a beacon of positivity in our own lives and in society.

Festive Preparations: Diwali preparations begin weeks in advance. Homes are thoroughly cleaned and adorned with colorful rangoli patterns, diyas (oil lamps), and decorative lights. The aroma of sweets and savories being prepared fills the air. The excitement builds as families shop for new clothes and exchange gifts.

Main Day Celebrations: The main day of Diwali is marked by elaborate rituals. Families come together to perform puja (prayers) to Goddess Lakshmi, seeking her blessings for wealth and prosperity. The lighting of diyas symbolizes the victory of light over darkness. As night falls, the sky erupts in a mesmerizing display of fireworks, filling the atmosphere with joy and wonder.

Cultural Diversity: One of the remarkable aspects of Diwali is its universality. It transcends cultural and religious boundaries, celebrated by people of various faiths. In Sikhism, Diwali holds particular significance as it commemorates Guru Hargobind Ji’s release from imprisonment. Jains celebrate Diwali as a day of spiritual awakening and the attainment of moksha (liberation).

Family Bonding: Diwali is a time for family reunions. It brings relatives and friends together, strengthening bonds and creating cherished memories. The exchange of gifts and sweets signifies love and goodwill among loved ones.

Social Responsibility: Diwali also reminds us of our social responsibility. It encourages us to share our blessings with those less fortunate, making charitable donations, and helping the needy. The festival promotes a sense of community and compassion.

Environmental Concerns: In recent years, there has been growing awareness about the environmental impact of Diwali celebrations, particularly the use of firecrackers. Many individuals and communities are now opting for eco-friendly celebrations, focusing on lights and festivities without noise and pollution.

Conclusion: In conclusion, Diwali is much more than a festival of lights; it’s a celebration of spirituality, cultural heritage, and togetherness. It holds deep historical and religious significance, reminding us of the eternal battle between good and evil. For me, Diwali represents the triumph of inner light over darkness, the pursuit of righteousness, and the importance of family and community bonds. It’s a time to cherish our cultural diversity and social responsibility while spreading love, happiness, and hope. Diwali will forever remain my favorite festival, illuminating my life with its timeless message of light, joy, and love.

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FAQs on Essay on My Favourite Festival

What is your favorite festival essay.

Diwali, also known as Deepavali, is my favorite festival. It's celebrated by millions of people across the globe, making it one of the most significant festivals in India. Diwali signifies the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

How to write an essay for Diwali?

To write an essay about Diwali, start with an introduction explaining the significance of the festival. Then, discuss its traditions, rituals, and cultural importance. Share personal experiences or stories related to Diwali, and conclude by highlighting its universal message of light overcoming darkness.

What is the Favourite festival of India?

The favorite festival of India varies among individuals, but some of the most widely celebrated festivals in India include Diwali, Holi, Eid, Christmas, and Navratri. The choice of favorite festival depends on personal preferences and cultural backgrounds.

What is a paragraph about a festival?

A festival is a joyous occasion that brings people together to celebrate and commemorate a significant event or tradition. Festivals often involve various rituals, ceremonies, cultural performances, and feasting. They provide an opportunity for people to connect, share happiness, and create lasting memories. Whether religious or cultural, festivals play a crucial role in preserving traditions and fostering a sense of community and belonging.

What is the importance of celebrating Deepavali?

The celebration of Deepavali (Diwali) holds immense importance as it symbolizes the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil. It fosters unity, family bonds, and spiritual renewal, spreading joy and hope among communities.

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My Favourite Festival Diwali Essay - 100, 200, 500 Words

My Favourite Festival Diwali Essay in English - The main Hindu festival, Diwali, is sometimes referred to as the Festival of Lights . In India, several festivals are celebrated with great enthusiasm. Every celebration has a unique way of being enjoyed. Diwali is also known as Deepawali, and also my favorite festival Diwali. Here are a few sample my favourite festival Diwali essay. These my favorite festival Diwali essay samples can be used to write 'my favourite festival Diwali 10 lines' or a whole essay. Students can use the information to write paragraph on favourite festival Diwali.

100 Words Essay on My Favourite Festival Diwali

Diwali, often known as the "Festival of Lights," is enjoyed by lighting diyas and setting off rockets and crackers. It is a celebration honoring Lord Rama's glorious return to Ayodhya after rescuing his wife Sita from the demonic king Ravana. We use clay oil lamps called diyas to light up our home. We light them using a cotton wick dipped in ghee or oil. Diwali represents the defeat of evil and the eradication of darkness. We also enjoy sharing sweets with our loved ones. For me, igniting sparklers with my family is my personal favourite part. I love spending diwali with my family and friends, we all dress in traditional indian clothing on the big day and wish each other happy diwali.

200 Words Essay on My Favourite Festival Diwali

Every year, I eagerly anticipate my favourite holiday, Diwali. It is observed in October or even early November. For this occasion, we have holidays from school. Dhanteras marks the start of Diwali festivities. People buy silver and gold goods as well as kitchenware on this day. These days, there are huge crowds in the market. The following day is observed as Choti Diwali or Narak Chaturdashi. People clean up their homes and remove excess garbage. During this event, it is stated that Goddess Laxmi visits our home. People use rangoli and beautiful lights to decorate their homes.

Goddess Laxmi and Lord Ganesha are worshiped on the festival of Diwali. Earthen lamps and candles are lit in the evening. On the night of Diwali, the entire area appears bright and luminous. Additionally, gifts and sweets are exchanged between people. Diwali is observed because Lord Rama returned to his throne on this day after spending fourteen years in exile. Govardhan Puja occurs the day after Diwali, and subsequently, Bhai Dooj is observed. Sisters pray for their brothers' safety and happiness on this day. Deepavali serves as a reminder of the value of peace, unity, and generational values. Everyone comes together to celebrate, give and receive gifts, and pray for wealth, happiness and prosperity.

500 Words Essay on My Favourite Festival Diwali

My favourite festival is Diwali. Every region of India celebrates this festival of lights. The Sanskrit word Deepavali, which signifies a row of lights, is where the word Diwali originates. Deep means "bright," while avali means "a row." One of the biggest festivals of Diwali is celebrated with warmth, joy, and dazzling splendor throughout South-East Asia and India. People burn lamps and diyas all around their homes and workplaces to celebrate this occasion. It also represents the triumph of light over darkness. Diwali is typically celebrated in October or November, 20 days following Dussehra, as predicted by the stars. It is observed during the Hindu lunar month of Kartika.

Brief History

This festival is connected to several stories.One tale from northern India describes the legend of King Rama, one of the Hindu god Vishnu's avatars. An old epic called the Ramayana claims that Rama conquered the demon Ravana, who had abducted his wife Sita, and returned to his home after spending fourteen years in exile. People greeted him by lighting diyas when he arrived in Ayodhya, his kingdom. The Hindu god Krishna is said to have rescued sixteen thousand ladies from the evil monarch Narakasura is another well-known tale from southern India. Diwali is about the great victory of good over evil in both stories. Goddess Lakshmi and God Ganesh are also honoured and worshiped on Diwali.

Significance | The Diwali festival represents the victory of good over evil, knowledge over ignorance, and right over wrong. It is a moment of great spiritual significance since it means illuminating our inner light and sharing it with others.

How I Celebrate Diwali?

With my family, I visit the temple in the morning on the day of Diwali wearing new Indian traditional clothes and worship the goddess Laxmi and the god Ganesha in the evening. We light candles and clay lamps to beautify the house after puja. Then, my siblings, friends, and I enjoy sparklers and firecrackers. Although these fireworks are bad for the environment, we attempt to celebrate Diwali wisely. We all eat our dinner and sweets together. We also celebrate Govardhan Puja and Bhai Dooj after Diwali.

Arrangements and Celebrations

Deepavali is a time for refreshing and reviving all of one's energies, celebrated with great faith and devotion. To welcome energies of riches, success, and well-being into their lives, people begin preparations for this occasion days in advance by cleaning, remodeling, and decorating their houses and places of employment with flowers, vibrant glow lights, and numerous elaborate decorations. Family members also perform religious rituals and ignite candles and oil lamps.

The primary festive night of Diwali falls on the night of the new moon, and celebrations often last over five days. Dhanteras starts off the celebration, which continues with Naraka Chaturdasi, also known as Choti Diwali, and ends with Diwali on the third day. The fourth day of the five-day festival is then dedicated to Diwali Padva or Govardhan Puja, and the fifth and final day is Bhai-Dhuj. The festival's days each have their unique importance.

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Celebrating Joy: Essay On My Favorite Festival In English

If you ask me about my favourite festival, then I’ll probably say it’s not just one festival, but so many! Hey, this is Barsha, and I hail from India, a diverse land where 24 national festivals are celebrated every year.

Needless to say, it’s extremely difficult to select just one festival – we have 24, come on! If you were in my place, then you would probably be in the same position as I am. Yes, I totally dig Diwali – it’s one of the biggest festivals in India.

But then I am Bengal, the cultural capital of India, and in Bengal, we live, breathe, and enjoy one thing and one thing only – yep, I am talking about the festival of Dusshera, A.K.A, Durga Puja! But those are just two festivals – there are so many more I enjoy celebrating.

Stay tuned to find out more.

Celebrating Joy: Essay On My Favorite Festival In English  

As I just mentioned, my favourite festival in Bengali has to be Durga Puja, undoubtedly. Then I have spent so much time in Convent organizations that Christmas is a major holiday for me, and so is Easter.

You know where this is going, right? Welcome to my listicles on all my favorite festivals – sorry, but not sorry, for this one. So, let’s just rip the band-aid off and get down to business – scroll down to read more!

1. Durga Puja (Dusshera):

My favourite festival essay would be incomplete if I didn’t dedicate at least three paragraphs to this major festival that is celebrated for five days every year in my hometown.

Legend says that goddess Durga defeated Mahishasura, the demon king – and this puja celebrates Ma Durga’s victory over Mahishasura. It starts at the very same time as Navratri, another popular Indian festival.

Navratri is a nine-night festival that is celebrated in several western and northern Indian states – the board’s purpose is to celebrate Shakti, the divine feminine.

The first day of Durga Puja is called Mahalaya – this day heralds the appearance of the goddess Durga. But the major celebrations in the capital city of West Bengal, Calcutta, begin on the fifth day (Panchami). The celebrations go on for the last five days when the masses step out to enjoy themselves.

The streets are lined with people waiting in queues at restaurants, pubs, puja pandals (where sculptures of Durga, her kids, her husband, and Mahishasura are kept), and basically everywhere else.

Pandal hopping is perhaps the most common activity – there are competitions conducted to honor the neighborhoods that do the best version of the Puja, with vibrant lights, themes, and colors.

It’s not just the ‘happiness’ in the air that makes Durga Puja my favorite festival – there’s something so beautiful in the city during this time. You can LITERALLY smell it in the air. Plus, it’s also that one time in the year when everyone comes back to their hometown to celebrate this happy time together.

Undoubtedly, no festival can take Durga Puja’s place in my life. It’s about everything that I hold very dear to me – my family, my home, my friends, my city, and I could go on and on about the same.

Yep, I am a die-hard fan of Durga Puja – but what about my favourite festival Holi? Another one of my favorites has to be Holi.

Holi welcomes the beginning of Spring – the festival of colors celebrates the divine and eternal love of Krishna and Radha. Two godly figures from Hindu mythology. And that’s not all – Holi also celebrates the triumph of good over evil. According to Hindu mythology, Narasimha Narayana, A.K.A Lord Vishnu’s avatar, over Hiranyakashipu.

While the religious and ceremonial associations of Holi are fine for explanatory purposes, it’s the playing with colors and unlimited partying that makes Holi so fun!

Every year, people take to the streets and play with colors to celebrate Holi. Traditionally, the younger members of a family touch the feet of the older members with colors, and everyone mostly wears white.

But then again, that’s no reason why it’s one of my favorite festivals of all time. I love Holi because every year, I spend this day with my close ones.

This year, at work, we all played Holi together and celebrated the onset of Spring. And the next day, we again played with friends, family, and of course, the love of my life. Also, the partying associated with Holi (yes, Bhang gets a special mention) definitely makes the occasion one of my favorites.

This is what Wikipedia has to say about Bhang, in case you were wondering,

“ Bhang is an edible preparation made from the leaves of the cannabis plant originating from the Indian subcontinent. It has been used in food and drink as early as 1000 BC in ancient India. Bhang is traditionally distributed during the spring festival of Maha Shivaratri and Holi. ”

3. Eid al-Fitr:

As I was saying in the very beginning, India is a diverse country, and your religion has nothing to do with the festivals you celebrate. Being a Hindu, celebrating Durga Puja and Holi are normal. But then my favorite festival is also Eid al-Fitr, the major festival celebrated in Islam all over the world.

In this context, Britannica talks at length about the meaning of Eid al-Fitr,

“ Eid al-Fitr (Arabic: “Festival of Breaking Fast”), also spelled ʿĪd al-Fiṭr, also called al-ʿĪd al-Ṣaghīr, Turkish Ramazan Bayramı (“Ramadan Festival”), first of two canonical festivals of Islam. Eid al-Fitr marks the end of Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting, and is celebrated during the first three days of Shawwāl, the 10th month of the Islamic calendar (though the Muslim use of a lunar calendar means that it may fall in any season of the year). As in Islam’s other holy festival, Eid al-Adha, it is distinguished by the performance of communal prayer (ṣalāt) at daybreak on its first day. ”

Do you know why it happens to be my favorite? It’s the festival of food, and I love all the food I find here during this time – from the most delicious kebabs to the mouthwatering Halim, you can’t have enough.

4. Christmas

Christmas is not just a festival, it is an emotion. It is a time of joy, celebration, and togetherness. Growing up, Christmas has always been my favorite festival, not just because of the presents or the delicious food, but because of the warm and magical feeling that surrounds this festival. The Christmas season is like no other, it has a certain charm and essence that touches the hearts of people from all walks of life.

One of the main reasons why Christmas holds a special place in my heart is because of the traditions and customs associated with it. Every year, my family and I decorate our house with lights, wreaths, and a Christmas tree. The smell of freshly baked cookies and the sound of Christmas carols fill the air. The excitement and anticipation of the big day can be felt in every corner of the house. It is a tradition that we look forward to and cherish every year.

Another aspect of Christmas that I adore is the spirit of giving and generosity. It is the time of the year when people put aside their differences and come together to spread love and happiness. Additionally, the act of giving gifts to loved ones and those in need is a beautiful gesture that brings joy to both the giver and the receiver. It is a reminder that material possessions are not the only things that matter. But it is the thought and love behind the gifts that make them special.

However, amidst all the festivities and celebrations, the true essence of Christmas lies in its religious significance. As a Christian, the birth of Jesus Christ is the reason behind this festival. It is a time to reflect on the teachings of Jesus and remember the true meaning of love, forgiveness, and compassion. Going to church on Christmas Eve, singing carols, and listening to the story of the birth of Jesus is a tradition that has been passed down in my family for generations.

Moreover, Christmas is a time to reunite with family and friends. It is a time to put aside our busy lives and spend quality time with our loved ones. The holiday season brings people together. No matter how far apart we may be throughout the year, Christmas is the time when we all come together under one roof. The laughter, the conversations, and the shared memories make this festival all the more special.

Lastly, Christmas is incomplete without the delicious food and desserts. From the traditional Christmas turkey to the mouth-watering desserts like Christmas pudding and gingerbread cookies, the festive season is a treat for the taste buds. The aroma of the food, the sound of clinking glasses, and the warmth of the company create an atmosphere of pure bliss.

In conclusion, Christmas is not just a festival, it is a feeling. It is a time of love, happiness, and togetherness. The traditions, the spirit of giving, the religious significance, the reunion with family and friends, and the delicious food, all come together to make this festival my favorite. It is a time when people put aside their differences and come together to spread love and joy. Christmas is a reminder that no matter how tough life may get, there is always hope and happiness around the corner. As the famous quote goes, “Christmas is not a season, but a state of mind.” And for me, that state of mind is what makes Christmas my favorite festival.

And It’s A Wrap!   

Please don’t look for ‘my favourite festival paragraph’ on Google – I’ll tell you why! It kind of eliminates the idea of authenticity from your essay. And that is exactly what every essay needs – lots of originality, vibrancy, and color.

So, tell us, what are your thoughts on the festivals we have mentioned above? Which one’s your favorite festival? Feel free to share your thoughts, stories, and experiences in the comments below.

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My Favourite Teacher Essay In English [100 – 200 – 300 Words]

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✍️Essay on Festivals: Samples in 150, 250 Words

• Updated on  
• Nov 2, 2023

Festivals are the special occasions celebrated in every religion and country to follow their tradition . They are generally celebrated worldwide to pay tribute to God and Goddesses and to spread joy and positivity. India, known for its diversity and multiculturalism celebrates many festivals throughout the year. Festivals are the best part of the year as they contribute to the unity of the nation and add prosperity to the life of the people. India celebrates different categories of festivals such as regional festivals, seasonal festivals , annual festivals, and national festivals. Stay tuned and read the following essay on festivals!

Also Read: Speech on Dussehra in English

 Essay on Festivals of India 200 Words

Festivals in India are celebrated with great zeal. Indian festivals are worth witnessing as they are the most popular and colourful festivals. Be it Holi, the Queen Festival of Colours or Diwali the festival of crackers and rangoli, all are marked with great historical significance that tells about Indian Mythology. One of the most popular and biggest festivals in the world, Kumbh Mela, is also celebrated in India, where millions of devotees gather to offer their prayers.

Every festival has its own story and belief. People follow and respect their traditional values and do fasting on festivals like Chhath Puja , Govardhan Puja , Bhai Dooj , and Karwachauth. All these Indian festivals play an important role in uniting people belonging to different cultures in the same society. 

Apart from these festivals, Onam, Dussehra , Christmas, New Year, Raksha Bandha, etc are also celebrated in India. Republic Day , Gandhi Jayanti , and Independence Day are the National festivals of India which are government holidays in the Indian Calendar. 

Religious festivals include Eid-Ul-Fitr which ends with Ramadan celebrated by the Muslim community, Guru Nanak Jayanti held on 27 November 2023 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Guru Nanak Dev Ji celebrated by Sikhs, and Christmas celebrated on 25 December every year by Christians. 

Also Read: Why is Onam Celebrated: The Festival of Joy in Kerala 

Essay in Festivals 250 Words

India’s rich diversity and festivals unite people from different backgrounds. It joins people from different states and religions in a single thread for the celebration. Every occasion in India and different countries is celebrated with happiness and joy. Festivals bring joy and prosperity and create a sense of oneness.

The Kumbh Mela is one of the largest festivals in the world, which takes place at four pilgrimage sites in India; Ujjain, Prayagraj, Haridwar and Nashik. On this occasion, devotees take a ritual dip in the holy rivers of Shipra in Ujjain, Ganga-Yamuna-Sarasvati in Prayagraj, the Ganges in Hardwar, and Godavari in Nasik.

People follow the tradition of exchanging sweets and gifts on special occasions. National festivals are marked as Government holidays such as 2 October celebrated as Gandhi Jayanti, 26 January celebrated as Republic Day, and 15 August celebrated as Independence Day.

One thing which you find common in all festivals is cleaning the house, decorating, and worshipping God. Festivals are auspicious occasions that bring good health, wealth, joy, and prosperity into the lives of people. 

Apart from the National festivals, Pongal, Onam, Baisakhi and Bihu celebrated in Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Punjab and Assam respectively are the seasonal festivals celebrated with very high energy by the people of that particular state. Farmers in India worship God and Goddess of agriculture on such seasonal festivals to seek their blessings and wish for good yields for the successive years.

Thus, the festivals in the given essay on festivals tell about various cultures and diversity in a particular country and about the customs followed by the people in festivals to make them grand and happening.

Also Read: Importance of Makar Sankranti

Relevant Blogs

Festivals hold a significant role in the human life. They are important to continue the traditional culture, religion, and practices of that particular religion and region. It plays a key role in uniting people and filling up the communication gaps thereby increasing the social dependency of people.

Festivals are extraordinary events celebrated to commemorate the traditions followed by our ancestors. It holds a significant role in joining the society and passing on the traditions to the future generations. They create an ambience of positivity, joy, and prosperity all around. Every region and religion follows their own festivals worldwide. 

Festivals are the source of happiness. They are the best part of the year. Festivals are celebrated with people belonging to different cultures and religions and it helps in uniting them and enjoying the feeling of oneness and togetherness. 

Here are 10 lines on why we celebrate festivals: Festivals are a chance for everyone to unite for a cause; It is considered auspicious to conduct prayers and worship God and Goddess. ; People of different religions follow different customs and practices to celebrate festivals.; Festivals create a happy atmosphere all around; In India, people celebrate many festivals throughout the year; Holi and Diwali are the two main festivals in India; Decorating the surroundings, cleaning the house, worshipping god, wearing new clothes, and sharing good wishes, and gifts are some of the important elements of any festival; Festivals are considered incomplete without sweets; The special occasion builds friendship among the people and increases interdependency; These special days are celebrated with utmost pomp and enthusiasm. 

For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu .

Kajal Thareja

Hi, I am Kajal, a pharmacy graduate, currently pursuing management and is an experienced content writer. I have 2-years of writing experience in Ed-tech (digital marketing) company. I am passionate towards writing blogs and am on the path of discovering true potential professionally in the field of content marketing. I am engaged in writing creative content for students which is simple yet creative and engaging and leaves an impact on the reader's mind.

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Essay on My Favourite Festival

India is a country signifying unity in diversity. People living in this country belong to different religions and celebrate several festivals. All of us celebrate and enjoy festivals. We also love to celebrate and participate in the festivals of different religions. Nevertheless, we enjoy all the festivals but have particular choices for our favorite festival. These essays are well worded for you to read and understand about favorite festivals.

Short and Long My Favourite Festival Essay in English

Essay on My Favourite Festival for students of class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and class 12 in English in 100, 150, 200, 250, 300, 500 words. Dear students Find here variety of essays on My Favourite Festivals such as Christmas, Eid ul Fitr, Holi and Diwali. Also find short My Favourite Festival essay 10 lines.

My Favourite Festival Essay 10 Lines (100 – 150 Words)

1) My favorite festival is Christmas which falls in December.

2) On this day, we celebrate the birthday of Lord Jesus.

3) My favorite festival comes with winter vacation.

4) I love decorating my house and Christmas tree.

5) Attending prayers at the church makes me happy.

6) I love eating cake and other delicious dishes prepared on this day.

7) Every year I wait for Christmas to meet Santa Claus.

8) I feel excited about the gifts that I get from Santa.

9) Singing Christmas carols with everyone attract me to this festival.

10) I love Christmas because on this day, we dance, sing, and enjoy ourselves together.

Essay 1 (200 – 250 Words) – My Favorite Festival Christmas

Introduction

We all love celebrating festivals. It is a time when all the people get together and enjoy the time. Christmas falls during winter and is celebrated on 25 th December. It marks the birth anniversary of Jesus Christ, the god of Christians.

Preparation for Christmas

Although, Christmas is a one-day festival it requires week-long preparation. Christmas celebration starts with cleaning and decorating the house. People buy different attractive lights to decorate their houses. The Christmas tree is also decorated with toys, gifts, and lights. Many people organize parties in their homes. A special Christmas feast is prepared to add one more star to the Christmas festival. People hang special lights in the form of stars at their doors. Malls, shops, restaurants, hotels, etc places are well-decorated for Christmas.

Why I Love Christmas

I like all the festivals but the one which I love the most is Christmas. There are many reasons to love this incredible festival. One of my favorite thing about this festival is Santa Claus. I wait the entire year for my gift from Santa. Although I have never seen him I always get my gift on my bed. I also love decorating Christmas trees. Another thing that excites me is new clothes. Winter vacation and Christmas feast make this festival more joyful.

Christmas is a time of peace, happiness, and joy. Christmas gives the message of brotherhood and unity. It is a time to forgive all the past quarrels. Therefore, we should celebrate this festival together with full joy.

Essay 2 (300 Words) – My Favourite Festival Eid-Ul-Fitr

Festivals are like refreshments to us. Many people are busy working the whole day or live away from family members for jobs. But, festival time is the best time to enjoy fully with our family and close ones keeping aside our daily routine work.

My Favourite Festival

The festival which I love to celebrate is Eid-Ul-Fitr. It is one of the greatest Islamic festivals celebrated worldwide. It is celebrated after one month of fasting period called Ramadan. On the last day of the month, the festival is celebrated after sighting the crescent moon. People offer prayers in the mosques and hug each other wishing Eid Mubarak. Everybody is very much excited about this festival. They wear new dresses; exchange gifts and different kind of dishes are prepared. People visit their friend’s houses to meet and wish them.

I am fond of this festival and love to eat the sweet dish prepared specially on this occasion called sewai. I visit my friend’s house to enjoy this day with her. Every year she serves me different types of snacks and food items.

A Most Special Provision of this Festival

People celebrate this festival and also do charity. There is the provision of Zakat i.e. every person gives some part of his earning to the poor people. They donate dresses, money, and eatables to the poor people who can’t afford these things. Real happiness lies in giving to others who are in need.

Importance of fasting in Ramzaan

Adults are required to fast during the holy Ramadan. The fasting is started from early morning till evening. Fasting during Ramadan is necessary for Islam but fasting is important on a scientific basis too. It is a remedy that helps in detoxifying the whole body and helps in weight loss. It improves body metabolism.

Eid-Ul-Fitr is an important festival that is celebrated by Muslims all over the world. It symbolizes brotherhood and love.

Essay 3 (400 Words) – My Favourite Festival Holi

Festivals are an important part of our culture. There are many festivals that are celebrated all over India and World. Festivals are the ways of rejoicing ourselves. The joy of Celebrating Holi is awesome and I can say that it is one of my favorite festivals.

Holi is the festival of colors and is celebrated as the major festival of Hindus. This festival is celebrated in the spring season before the onset of summer.

The History behind Holi Celebration

The festival has a story behind its celebration. The demon king Hiranyakashyap desired that everybody in his kingdom would worship him as a god. All people did the same except Prahlad, his own son.

Prahlad was a great devotee of Lord Vishnu. Hiranyakashyap wanted to kill Prahlad and therefore asked her sister Holika to sit with Prahlad in the fire. Holika would not be harmed as she was granted the blessing of not being harmed by fire. After this deed, Holika died and Prahlad was safe due to the blessing of God. Later Hiranyakashyap was also killed by Lord Vishnu.

Process of Festival Celebration

On the occasion of Holi, People wear white dresses and come out of their houses. There is the provision of playing with each other using colors. In some places, flowers, mud, water, etc are used for playing Holi with each other. Some people also drink buttermilk containing bhang and enjoy the festival. Children celebrate this festival with their own age group. They throw the balloons filled with colours on each other.

In the evening after washing and bathing, new dresses are worn by people. A popular sweet dish made on this occasion is “Gujhiya”. There are many kinds of sweets and snacks prepared by people at home. People visit each other’s house to meet with friends and relatives and greet them with good wishes.

I enjoyed this festival in my school also as there was a pre-celebration of Holi on my school campus. Various organic colors, sweets, and snacks were served to us. There was also the arrangement of the music system for dancing and celebrating the joy of the festival.

Playing Safe Holi

We should minimize the use of colors containing chemicals to play Holi. These chemicals destroy skin texture and can cause irritation and itching. Natural organic colors must be used along with the conservation of water. Applying these concepts will give rise to eco-friendly Holi.

Holi is a festival that teaches us to love each other and put all the conflict to an end. It is played using colors that signify happiness and liveliness.

Essay on Holi

Essay 4 (500 – 600 Words) – My Favourite Festival Diwali

Festivals bring happiness and enjoyment to our life. Every festival has its own importance and history behind celebrating the same.

I like Diwali as my favorite festival. I eagerly wait for this festival to arrive. Four to five days of Diwali Celebration are very interesting. It is celebrated as the major festival of Hindus in the month of October or November.

Pre- Preparation for Diwali

The whitewashing of shops and houses is done prior to the festival. All the rooms and places inside and outside of the house are cleaned. People believe that goddess Lakshmi visits those houses which are neat and clean and shower her blessings. We buy earthen lamps and my mother washes and dries all the diyas which have to be lit up on that day. New idols of Lord Ganesha and Goddess Lakshmi are bought. The market is full of chaos and crowd from one week before the festival. Kids and children are very much excited to buy new clothes.

Celebration of Diwali

Dhanteras is celebrated one day before Diwali. There is a provision of buying new utensils or new things for the day of Dhanteras. On the day of Diwali, we decorate our house with rangoli and flower garlands. People wear new attire and worship Lord Ganesha and Lakshmi, considered to be the sign of prosperity and wealth. The doors and windows are kept open so that Goddess Lakshmi may find her way through that. All the houses and shops are decorated with lighted diyas, lights and candles. Children are busy lighting firecrackers.

I like this festival as it is filled with simplicity. I feel very nice when the whole family prays together and we get sweets and laddus as Prasad. The whole colony looks beautiful and lighted.

Rangoli Competition in School on the Occasion of Diwali

Rangoli making is a prominent activity on the festival of Diwali. In our schools before Diwali Holidays are granted, a Rangoli Competition is organized. The students interested in Rangoli making, participate in the competition, and work as a team. Students are very excited about this competition. We can see different types of Rangolis prepared by students using flowers, sand, rice, flour, etc. The three best designs are awarded first, second and third price.

It is the best way of initiating festival vibes in us. There is a short programme as pre-celebration of Diwali and sweets are distributed to us.

Religious Beliefs behind Celebrating this Festival

There are many stories behind celebrating this festival. It depends upon different cultures and religious beliefs in different regions of the country. The most accepted story is the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after completing the exile period of 14 years. Lord Rama returned after rescuing his wife Mata Sita from the demon Ravana and killing him. People light Diyas express their gratitude, happiness, and welcome Lord Rama on his arrival to Ayodhya.

If we study all the religious beliefs behind celebrating this festival, we will come to know that the moral is the same i.e. Victory over Evil. The lighted Diyas also symbolizes the removal of darkness and spreading the light of happiness, joy, and power.

Pollution-Free Diwali

Every year lot of Firecrackers are burnt on the festival of Diwali which pollutes the atmosphere. The use of firecrackers must be stopped. The pollutants released by burning and fireworks are harmful to us and also deteriorating the Air Quality Index (AQI). We should try to make Diwali a pollution-free Diwali, by saying “No” to Crackers. Infants and animals also fear the noise which comes after burning the crackers and bombs.

Diwali is the festival of lights. The houses, shops, temples all lighted with diyas gives a glorious look. It is the major festival of Hindus but is celebrated by many people of different religions.

FAQs: Frequently Asked Questions

Ans . The word festival has been originated from the Latin word festa that means a religious holiday.

Ans. The Hornbill festival celebrated in Nagaland is termed as the ‘Festival of Festivals’.

Ans . Lai Haroba festival is celebrated in the Manipur state of India.

Ans . The Kala Ghoda festival is celebrated every year in Mumbai.

Ans . The Kite festival is celebrated in the month of January in Gujarat.

Ans . The Onam festival is associated with boat racing in India.

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Essay on Favourite Festival

Students are often asked to write an essay on Favourite Festival in their schools and colleges. And if you’re also looking for the same, we have created 100-word, 250-word, and 500-word essays on the topic.

Let’s take a look…

100 Words Essay on Favourite Festival

My favourite festival: diwali.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is my favourite festival. It is a time when our whole family comes together to celebrate. We clean our house and decorate it with lamps and rangolis, which are colorful patterns made on the floor.

Traditions and Joy

We wear new clothes and pray to Goddess Lakshmi for wealth and happiness. After prayers, we light fireworks and share sweets with friends and family. The sky sparkles with colors, and everyone seems joyful.

Giving and Learning

Diwali is also about giving to others and learning good overcomes evil. It teaches us to share and live in harmony. This festival fills our hearts with love and our homes with light.

Also check:

• Paragraph on Favourite Festival

250 Words Essay on Favourite Festival

Introduction to my favourite festival.

Everyone has a festival that brings joy and happiness to their heart. My favourite festival is Diwali, the festival of lights. It is a time when the whole country lights up with excitement and joy.

The Celebration of Light

Diwali is celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil. People light small clay lamps called ‘diyas’ and place them around their homes. These lights make the whole place look magical. At night, the sky is filled with the bright colors of fireworks. It’s like watching a dance of lights that fills you with wonder.

Family Time

One of the best parts about Diwali is spending time with family. Relatives come from different places to celebrate together. We share gifts, eat lots of sweets, and enjoy special meals. It’s a time when laughter and stories are shared, and memories are made.

Traditions and Fun

Diwali is also about traditions. We wear new clothes, pray for happiness and health, and decorate our homes. Children especially look forward to bursting crackers and playing games. The whole atmosphere is one of fun and festivity.

Giving and Sharing

Diwali is a time of giving. We share sweets with neighbors and friends. It’s also a time to help those who are less fortunate. Giving them food, clothes, or just spending time with them adds to the true spirit of the festival.

Diwali is my favourite festival because it brings light, joy, and togetherness. It teaches us to share and care, and to celebrate the triumph of good. It’s a time when the heart feels full and the world looks beautiful.

500 Words Essay on Favourite Festival

Festivals are like a splash of color in our daily lives. They bring joy, togetherness, and a break from the usual routine. My favourite festival is Diwali, also known as the Festival of Lights. It is celebrated all over India and marks the victory of good over evil. This essay will talk about why Diwali is so special to me.

The Story Behind Diwali

Diwali has an exciting story that goes back many years. It is said that on this day, Lord Rama returned to his kingdom after defeating the demon king Ravana. To welcome him back, people lit up their houses with small clay lamps called ‘diyas’. This is why we call it the Festival of Lights. Every year, we remember this story and celebrate the win of light over darkness.

Preparations for Diwali

Before Diwali starts, everyone gets busy cleaning and decorating their homes. We paint our houses and hang beautiful lanterns. One of the best parts is making ‘rangoli’, which are colorful patterns drawn on the ground using colored powders or flower petals. It’s a fun activity where all family members can show their creativity.

The Main Celebration

On Diwali day, we wear new clothes and pray together. The prayer is to thank God for all the good things we have and to ask for a happy year ahead. After the prayer, we light diyas and set off fireworks. The sky at night looks like a painting with all the different colors from the fireworks. It’s a sight to remember!

Sweets and Gifts

No festival is complete without tasty food, and Diwali is known for its sweets. We make lots of sweets at home like ‘laddoos’, ‘barfis’, and ‘jalebis’. Sharing these sweets with family and friends is a way of spreading happiness. We also exchange gifts, which makes everyone feel loved and special.

Time with Family

What I love most about Diwali is the time I spend with my family. Relatives who live far away come home to celebrate together. We all share stories, play games, and enjoy the festival. It’s a time when we forget about our worries and just have fun.

The Importance of Diwali

Diwali is important because it teaches us to be kind and to always choose good over bad. It reminds us that even when things seem dark, light will always come. It is a time for forgiveness and new beginnings.

In conclusion, Diwali holds a special place in my heart. It’s not just about the lights and the sweets, but about the warmth and the smiles it brings to people’s faces. This festival ties us all in a bond of love and celebration, making it my absolute favourite. I look forward to it every year and cherish the memories it creates.

That’s it! I hope the essay helped you.

If you’re looking for more, here are essays on other interesting topics:

• Essay on Favourite Destination
• Essay on Favorite Teacher
• Essay on Fantasy Land

Apart from these, you can look at all the essays by clicking here .

Happy studying!

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Grammar Library

Paragraph on my favourite festival in 100 to 300 Words for Students

Festivals have a special way of lighting up our lives, filling our hearts with joy and our communities with a sense of unity. But there’s one festival that stands out, weaving a tapestry of memories and experiences that stay with us long after the celebrations have ended. This festival is not just an event; it’s a journey through a world of colors, sounds, and flavors that mark the passage of time in the most beautiful way. As we delve into the story of my favorite festival, we embark on a journey that transcends the ordinary, inviting us to explore the deeper meanings and joys that these celebrations hold.

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Paragraph on my favourite festival in 100 words

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is my favourite festival. It marks the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. During Diwali, homes are decorated with lamps and rangolis, and the night sky is lit up with fireworks. Families gather to perform Lakshmi Puja, praying for prosperity and well-being. The exchange of sweets and gifts fosters a spirit of sharing and community. For me, Diwali is not just about the dazzling lights or the festive atmosphere, but it’s a time for reflection, renewal, and togetherness. It brings joy, warmth, and the promise of a brighter future.

Paragraph on my favourite festival in 150 words

Holi, known as the Festival of Colours, is my favourite festival. It celebrates the arrival of spring and the victory of good over evil. The festival starts with a Holika bonfire, symbolizing the burning away of bad vibes and the victory of faith. The next day, people of all ages play with colours, spraying each other with water and smearing colourful powders, symbolizing unity and joy.

It’s a time when social barriers dissolve, and people come together in happiness. Delicious sweets like gujiya and drinks like thandai add to the festival’s delight. Holi teaches us the importance of love, forgiveness, and new beginnings. It encourages us to let go of past grievances and look forward to a harmonious future. Celebrating Holi fosters a sense of belonging and togetherness among communities, making it a festival close to my heart.

Paragraph on my favourite festival in 200 words

Eid-ul-Fitr is my favourite festival, celebrated at the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting. It is a time of joy, gratitude, and community spirit. The festival begins with a special prayer at the mosque, where people come together to pray for peace and prosperity. Families wear new clothes, symbolizing a fresh start, and homes are filled with the aroma of special dishes.

The essence of Eid is sharing and charity; it compels us to remember the less fortunate and distribute alms, ensuring everyone can celebrate. The day is spent visiting friends and relatives, strengthening bonds and sharing the joy of the feast prepared. Eid-ul-Fitr is not just about the sumptuous meals or the joy of receiving Eidi; it embodies the values of empathy, generosity, and unity.

It teaches us the importance of discipline through fasting and the joy of giving. Celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr brings a sense of belonging and togetherness, making it a beacon of hope and happiness. It reminds us to always cherish and nurture the bonds of family and community, making the world a kinder place.

Paragraph on my favourite festival in 250 words

Among the numerous festivals celebrated across India, Diwali, the Festival of Lights, holds a special place in my heart. This festival, signifying the triumph of light over darkness and good over evil, brings together families and communities in a joyous celebration. The preparations for Diwali begin weeks in advance, with people cleaning their homes, shopping for new clothes, and preparing an array of sweets and snacks.

The excitement in the air is palpable as homes and streets are adorned with vibrant lights, lamps, and colorful rangolis. The evening of Diwali is magical, marked by the lighting of diyas (earthen lamps), bursting of firecrackers, and the worship of Goddess Lakshmi, seeking her blessings for wealth and prosperity. For students, Diwali is not just a time for celebration but also an opportunity to learn about Indian traditions, cultures, and the importance of family bonds.

Schools often organize events and competitions related to Diwali, allowing students to express their creativity through art, dance, and music, further enriching their understanding of this significant festival. The joy of sharing sweets with friends and neighbors, the excitement of lighting fireworks, and the warmth of family gatherings make Diwali my favourite festival. It is a time of happiness, togetherness, and the celebration of life’s simple pleasures, embodying the rich cultural heritage of India and the spirit of communal harmony.

Paragraph on my favourite festival in 300 words

In the kaleidoscope of Indian festivals, Holi, the festival of colors, emerges as my all-time favorite. Celebrated at the onset of spring, it symbolizes new beginnings, the victory of good over evil, and the importance of unity and friendship. The festival begins with the lighting of a bonfire on the eve of Holi, symbolizing the burning of the demoness Holika and the victory of faith.

The following day, known as Rangwali Holi, transforms the country into a vibrant canvas of colors, where everyone, irrespective of age or social status, participates in throwing colored powders and water at each other. This jubilant celebration encourages people to set aside differences, forgive and forget past grievances, and strengthen relationships.

For students, Holi offers a break from academic rigor and an opportunity to engage in outdoor activities, fostering teamwork and social skills. Many schools organize special Holi events, emphasizing the importance of playing with safe, natural colors, and teaching students about the cultural and historical significance of the festival. Through these celebrations, students learn valuable lessons about diversity, respect for all cultures, and the joy of inclusiveness.

Additionally, Holi crafts and essay competitions further allow students to explore their creative talents and deepen their understanding of Indian traditions.The joy of sharing sweets like gujiya and thandai, the laughter that echoes through the air, and the sight of people covered in colors, all contribute to the unique charm of Holi. It is a time when the community comes together, forgetting all sorrows and reveling in pure joy.

Holi not only marks the beginning of spring but also renews the spirit of friendship and unity among people, making it my favourite festival and a cherished celebration in the Indian cultural calendar.

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Essay On My Favorite Festival Diwali

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Short Essay On My Favorite Festival Diwali

Diwali is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India and is my favorite festival. It is also known as the “Festival of Lights” and is celebrated in late October or early November each year. Diwali is a five-day festival and is an occasion for families and friends to come together and celebrate.

The celebration of Diwali is steeped in history and legend. It is believed that the festival marks the victory of good over evil and light over darkness. This is symbolized by the lighting of diyas, or oil lamps, and the use of fireworks to chase away evil spirits and bring good luck for the coming year.

One of the highlights of Diwali is the decorating of homes and public spaces with lights and colorful decorations. People also exchange sweets and gifts, and dress up in new clothes to mark the occasion. The festival is also a time for feasting, and traditional Diwali foods such as samosas, sweets, and savory snacks are enjoyed by families and friends.

In addition to its religious significance, Diwali is also an important time for families and communities to come together. People visit their friends and relatives, and there is a strong sense of togetherness and belonging. This makes Diwali a very special and meaningful festival for me.

Diwali is not only celebrated in India but has also gained popularity in other parts of the world. This has helped to spread the cultural richness and diversity of India, and has allowed people from different backgrounds to come together and celebrate this special festival.

In conclusion, Diwali is my favorite festival because it brings people together, celebrates the victory of good over evil, and is a time for feasting and joy. The festival is a reminder of the importance of family, friendship, and community, and is a celebration of life and hope for the future.

Long Essay On My Favorite Festival Diwali

Diwali, the festival of lights and joy, is one of the most widely celebrated festivals in India. It’s a time for families to come together and celebrate with delicious food, vibrant decorations, and plenty of fireworks. In this essay, I will explore the origin of Diwali, its importance in Indian culture, and how it has become an integral part of my family’s life.

Introduction to Diwali

Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in India. It is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains all over the country. Diwali is also known as the festival of lights. It is celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil.

Diwali is a five day festival which starts on Dhanteras and ends on Bhaiya Dooj. On the first day of the festival, people buy gold and silver items. On the second day, people clean their houses and decorate them with lights and diyas. On the third day, people worship Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth. On the fourth day, people visit their relatives and friends. On the fifth day, people pray to Lord Ganesh, the god of wisdom.

Diwali is a very special festival for me and my family. We all enjoy spending time together and celebrating this joyous occasion.

History of Diwali

Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in India. It is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs. Diwali is also known as the festival of lights. It is celebrated every year in October or November. The exact date of Diwali changes every year because it is based on the lunar calendar.

Diwali has many different legends and stories associated with it. One of the most popular stories is the legend of Rama and Sita. According to this legend, Rama and Sita were exiled from their kingdom. They spent fourteen years in exile. During this time, they faced many challenges. Finally, they were able to return to their kingdom. As they returned home, they were welcomed by the people who lit candles and diyas (lamps) to celebrate their return.

Another popular story associated with Diwali is the story of Krishna and his wife Sudama. Sudama was a very poor man who lived in a village nearMathura. He was a great friend of Krishna’s. One day, he went to visit Krishna in Dwaraka. He was very worried about how he would look when he met his wealthy friend because he was not well-dressed and did not have any gifts to give him. However, Krishna was very happy to see Sudama and welcomed him warmly. He even gave Sudama some expensive gifts. This story teaches us that we should not worry about how we look or what

Significance of Diwali

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most popular festivals in India. The five-day long festival is celebrated by Hindus, Sikhs and Jains all over the world. Diwali commemorates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana in a battle. Hindus believe that on this day, Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, descended from heaven to earth. That is why Diwali is also known as the festival of lights.

Diwali is celebrated with great pomp and show all over India. On this day, people light up their houses with diyas (earthen lamps) and candles. They exchange sweets and gifts with their friends and family. Firecrackers are an integral part of Diwali celebrations. People dress up in new clothes and offer prayers to Goddess Lakshmi for a prosperous year ahead.

Diwali is not just a Hindu festival; it has become a national festival which is enjoyed by people of all religions and communities. The spirit of Diwali embodies the values of love, brotherhood, tolerance and forgiveness which are so essential for the wellbeing of our society.

Celebrations during Diwali

Diwali is one of the most popular festivals in India, and it is also one of the most important. The festival is celebrated by Hindus, Jains, and Sikhs all over the country, and it lasts for five days. Diwali falls on the last day of the Hindu calendar month of Ashvin, which usually falls in October or November.

Diwali is a festival of lights, and it is traditional to light candles and lamps all around the house. People also decorate their homes with rangoli designs made from colored powder or sand. On the night of Diwali, people dress up in new clothes and exchange gifts with family and friends. They also enjoy special meals and treats like sweets and snacks.

fireworks are another big part of Diwali celebrations. Families often set off fireworks together in their yards or neighborhoods. The sound of crackling fireworks fills the air during Diwali, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Traditional Activities during Diwali

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most popular festivals in India. The five-day festival begins on Dhanteras, followed by Naraka Chaturdasi on the second day, Deepavali on the third day, Diwali Padva on the fourth day and Bhai Dooj on the fifth day.

Diwali is celebrated to mark the victory of good over evil. On this occasion, people light up their homes and offices with diyas (clay lamps), candles and electric lights. They also exchange sweets and gifts with family and friends.

The main event of Diwali is the Lakshmi Puja, which is performed on the third day of the festival. On this day, Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity, is worshipped. People also pray for a prosperous year ahead.

Other popular activities during Diwali include making rangolis (colorful designs made with powdered color), decorating their homes with flowers and playing cards with family and friends.

Fireworks and Lightings

Diwali, the festival of lights, is my favorite festival. It’s a time when families and friends get together to celebrate. The highlight of the festival is the fireworks display. I love watching the colorful lights in the sky. It’s a magical experience.

Another highlight of Diwali is the lighting of diyas (oil lamps). These lamps are placed around the house and give off a warm, inviting glow. They represent the light of knowledge and hope that dispels ignorance and darkness.

I enjoy all aspects of Diwali, but what I love most is spending time with my loved ones and creating memories that will last a lifetime.

Gifts and Exchange of Sweets

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most popular festivals in India. It is celebrated with great pomp and show by Hindus all over the country. The festival commemorates the return of Lord Rama to his kingdom after fourteen years of exile. It is also a celebration of the victory of good over evil.

Diwali is celebrated for five days. The first day is Dhanteras, on which people buy gold and silver jewelry and other valuable items. The second day is Narak Chaturdashi, when people dress up as devils and ghosts to scare away evil spirits. The third day is Lakshmi Puja, when Goddess Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, is worshiped. The fourth day is Govardhan Puja, when people worship cows and offer them special prayers. The fifth and final day is Bhai Dooj, on which brothers visit their sisters and exchange gifts and sweets.

Diwali is a time for families to get together and celebrate. Gifts are exchanged between relatives and friends, and delicious sweets are eaten. Diwali is also a time for cleaning your house and decorating it with lights and flowers. People enjoy setting off fireworks on Diwali night sky.

So these are some things about Diwali, the festival of lights. I hope you enjoyed reading this article.

Diwali is a festival that brings people together, regardless of their background or religion. As I have grown up celebrating Diwali each year and learning more about the customs behind it, my love for this special holiday has only deepened. It is a time to be surrounded by friends and family and to celebrate the joys of life with them. The lights, decorations, music, and food make Diwali one of my favorite festivals in India!

Manisha Dubey Jha is a skilled educational content writer with 5 years of experience. Specializing in essays and paragraphs, she’s dedicated to crafting engaging and informative content that enriches learning experiences.

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Paragraph on Festival - Check Samples for 100, 150, 200, 250 Words

India is known to be a beautiful country with various religions and cultures. India celebrates various types of festivals throughout the year. These festivals fall at regular intervals on the calendar, breaking the monotony of life. From these busy lives, they give us some time to live and enjoy the moments of our life. Celebrating festivals brings us joy and happiness. We create memories and life with those throughout our lives.

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Paragraph on festival in 100 words, paragraph on festival in 150 words, paragraph on festival in 200 words, paragraph on festival in 250 words, frequently asked questions on festivals paragraph.

Writing a paragraph on festivals? Refer to the samples provided below to get an idea about the same.

India is a vast country with various religions and various cultural practices. People with different cultural beliefs stay together in harmony. They celebrate festivals together and share love and respect with each other. Some major festivals celebrated in India are Holi, Diwali, Dussehra, Eid, Christmas, etc. The festivals can be national or religious. Some national festivals are Independence day, Republic day, Gandhi Jayanti, etc. The national festivals are celebrated together as a nation. These festivals reflect the love for the nation and share love and respect for each other. We also pay tribute to the nation and the heroes of our nation.

India is a vast country with people of various religions and cultures. Therefore, India celebrates many festivals throughout the year. The people of India celebrate all the festivals with love, care and dedication and enjoy each moment of the festival with enthusiasm.

Festivals are of two types – national festivals and regional festivals. National festivals may include Independence Day, Republic Day, Gandhi Jayanti, etc., and religious festivals include Holi, Diwali, Dussehra, Christmas, Easter, Eid, Pongal, Onam, Guru Nanak Jayanti, etc. This culture of celebrating various festivals shows the unity that underlies the rich cultural and religious diversity of India. Celebrating festivals with family and friends brings us happiness and joy. Children wait with a lot of eagerness for the festivals so that they get new clothes, eat various kinds of food, etc. Each festival is celebrated as per their ritual and with a lot of dedication. Festivals bring us together to share love, respect and care for each other.

India is a land of various religions and cultures, which teach us to live in harmony with everyone. Every festival celebrates brotherhood. Every religion has its own culture and religious beliefs. Celebrating festivals together with family and friends is a moment of joy and happiness. We forget the enmity and hatred and only remember the love and respect we have for each other. India celebrates more than thirty festivals every year. There are various national and religious festivals throughout the year, like Onam, Pongal, Holi, Dussehra, Rath Yatra, Christmas, Eid, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day, Republic Day, etc. Every festival is celebrated as per its culture and religious practices with a lot of enthusiasm. Celebrating these festivals shows the unity that binds the people of India together. These celebrations commemorate our forefathers’ noble actions as well as the triumph of virtue over evil. Children wait for the festivals with a lot of eagerness and enthusiasm. People share various kinds of food and wear new dresses to celebrate the festivals. National festivals are celebrated among the people of the country, irrespective of any social denomination. These festivals are celebrated to pay tribute to the heroes of the country and to remind us of the rich and exceptional history of our country.

India is known for its rich cultural heritage. It is a diverse country with people of various religions and various cultural beliefs. People of different religions practise different cultures and traditions. Every event is dedicated to the celebration of brotherhood. Every religion has its own religious beliefs and customs. Celebrating festivals with family and friends is a joyous occasion that brings us all closer together. We forget about the hatred and enmity and just remember the love and respect we have for one other. Every year, India celebrates over thirty festivals to spread love and pleasure. Before every festival, people start their preparations a few days earlier. They go shopping, buy new dresses, various ingredients for making various food items, etc. In various cultures, people draw rangolis, decorate their houses with flowers and also whitewash their houses to bring peace and positivity. We celebrate Onam, Pongal, Holi, Dussehra, Rath Yatra, Christmas, Eid, Guru Nanak Jayanti, Gandhi Jayanti, Independence Day, Republic Day, and other national and religious festivals throughout the year. Every holiday is enthusiastically celebrated in accordance with its culture and religious beliefs. The celebration of these festivals demonstrates the solidarity of the people. Our forebears’ achievements, as well as the triumph of virtue over evil, are commemorated in these ceremonies. Festivals elicit a great deal of excitement and anticipation among children. To commemorate the festivities, people share a variety of dishes and don new outfits. National festivals are observed by all citizens of the country, regardless of religion or caste. These are commemorated to honour the country’s heroes and to pay tribute to the nation.

Why are festivals important to us?

Festivals are celebrated to break the monotony of life. We celebrate festivals to maintain our culture and religious beliefs. they are also a chance for family and friends to get together and share love and joy.

How to write a paragraph on festivals?

To write a paragraph on festivals, you can write about the major role that festivals play in everyone’s life. You can also write about the various types of festivals celebrated in the country.

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Essay on Diwali in English | My favorite festival Diwali

Hello friends we are here with an essay on Diwali in the English language. In this essay, we have told why Diwali is my favorite festival and have given information on how Diwali is celebrated all over India.

So Friend lets start with our Diwali essay.

Diwali - My Favourite Festival.

India is a very big country and in our country, there are people of every religion who leave peacefully throughout the country. Due to this, there are lots of festivals that are celebrated in India throughout the year, and one such festival is Diwali.

Diwali is also called "Dipawali" it is one of the major festival of the Hindu religion. People of all religions all over India celebrate Diwali with a lot of excitement and Happiness. Diwali is one of the festivals which is celebrated happily throughout the nation without any discrimination.

Diwali is one of the traditional festivals which has different stories about how it began one of the popular story behind the beginning of this festival is when Lord Ram, Sita, Lakshman, and Hanuman returned back to Ayodhya after 14 years of exile and getting victory over evil Ravana. The people welcomed them with lighting diyas all over Ayodhya, hence from that day Diwali is celebrated which gives the message of victory of good over bad.

Diwali is one of the major festival of India, and people are very excited about this festival. Diwali is celebrated with a lot of happiness. Diwali is one of the favorite festival on children because there is a vocational holiday for school during the festival of Diwali so children enjoy this festival a lot.

Before the beginning of Diwali people start cleaning and renovating their houses and beautifully decorate their houses. On eve of this Diwali festival children are offered brand new cloth and given firecrackers. This is also one reason because of which children love this festival so much.

Diwali is a festival of light, in this festival, every home is decorated with beautiful lights, Diyas are placed outside all houses and one lantern is hanged on the roof. During Diwali at night time all the darkness is overturned by lights, this is the reason because of which Diwali is also called as festival of lights. This light in darks gives us a message about the victory of good (light) over evil (dark).

On Diwali, my sister makes a beautiful rangoli with different pattern every day outside our door. In every house sweets and snacks are prepared, this includes "chakli, laddu, karanji, chivada, etc". These homemade snacks are then distributed to each other's home as greetings which increases relations with every family.

We enjoy this festival of Diwali a lot, we burst firecrackers every day. On the day of Laxmi puja we offer prayer to the goddess Laxmi for a wealthy life. On the day of Bhai Dooj, sister gives their brother a gift and greet each other.

Overall the festival of light Diwali is celebrated with a lot of excitement and happiness all over India. And I enjoy this festival a lot so Diwali is my favorite festival.

Friends how do you celebrate Diwali do tell us below by commenting below.

This essay on Diwali can be used by students of class 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th,10th, 11th and 12th for their educational purpose. This essay can also be used on the topics listed below.

• Essay on the festival of lights - Diwali.
• My favorite festival Diwali.
• Short essay on Diwali in the English language.
• Composition on Diwali

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Essay on Holi for Students and Children

500+ words essay on holi.

Holi is known as the festival of colours. It is one of the most important festivals in India . Holi is celebrated each year with zeal and enthusiasm in the month of March by followers of the Hindu religion. Those who celebrate this festival, wait for it every year eagerly to play with colours and have delectable dishes.

Holi is about celebrating happiness with friends and family. People forget their troubles and indulge in this festival to celebrate brotherhood. In other words, we forget our enmities and get into the festival spirit. Holi is called the festival of colours because people play with colours and apply them to each other’s faces to get coloured in the essence of the festival.

History of Holi

The Hindu religion believes there was a devil king named Hiranyakashyap long ago. He had a son named Prahlad and a sister called Holika. It is believed that the devil king had blessings of Lord Brahma. This blessing meant no man, animal or weapon could kill him. This blessing turned into a curse for him as he became very arrogant. He ordered his kingdom to worship him instead of God, not sparing his own son.

Following this, all the people began worshipping him except for his son, Prahlad. Prahlad refused to worship his father instead of God as he was a true believer of Lord Vishnu. Upon seeing his disobedience, the devil king planned with his sister to kill Prahlad. He made her sit in the fire with his son on the lap, where Holika got burned and Prahlad came out safe. This indicated he was protected by his Lord because of his devotion. Thus, people started celebrating Holi as the victory of good over evil.

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The Celebration of Holi

People celebrate Holi with utmost fervour and enthusiasm, especially in North India. One day before Holi, people conduct a ritual called ‘Holika Dahan’. In this ritual, people pile heaps of wood in public areas to burn. It symbolizes the burning of evil powers revising the story of Holika and King Hiranyakashyap. Furthermore, they gather around the Holika to seek blessings and offer their devotion to God.

The next day is probably the most colourful day in India. People get up in the morning and offer pooja to God. Then, they dress up in white clothes and play with colours. They splash water on one another. Children run around splashing water colours using water guns. Similarly, even the adults become children on this day. They rub colour on each other’s faces and immerse themselves in water.

In the evening, they bathe and dress up nicely to visit their friends and family. They dance throughout the day and drink a special drink called the ‘bhaang’. People of all ages relish holi’s special delicacy ‘gujiya’ ardently.

In short, Holi spreads love and brotherhood. It brings harmony and happiness in the country. Holi symbolizes the triumph of good over evil. This colourful festival unites people and removes all sorts of negativity from life.

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My Favourite Festival Essay – Diwali

India is a land of festivals. Many festivals are celebrated here with great pomp and show. Each festival has a religious or mythological significance behind it.

Diwali is one of them. It is the festival of lights. It is celebrated for several days. It falls in the month of October or early November. Diwali is celebrated by Hindus. It is also my favourite festival. It marks the victory of Rama over Ravana.

It is celebrated on the occasion of Lord Rama’s return to Ayodhya after fourteen years of exile. Before it falls, people clean and whitewash their houses. The toy and picture shops are rearranged. Sweets are bought and distributed. Candles and crackers are sold briskly.

It is a festival for shopping. Laxmi Pooja is performed. Shop-keepers perform pooja in their shops as well as at home. People greet their relatives and friends with sweets and crackers. Shops are lighted with colourful bulbs and attract a huge crowd.

The evening is the most interesting part of the day when houses are illuminated with earthen lamps or candles. Children burst crackers. One hears the sound of bursting bombs across the city. Everyone looks happy.

Most of the people worship the goddess of wealth ‘Lakshmi’. They pray her to give them wealth. Some people start their new business from this very day.

Gambling is also common on Diwali day. Gambling is evil. Diwali gives the message of joy and happiness and not to lose money. Diwali is considered the best festival all over India.

It is called rightly the festival of lights. It gives a message of love, brotherhood and festival. The hearts of everyone should be illuminated by light like houses and shops.

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My Favorite Festival Essay

India is a country of unity in diversity. Here people of many religions live together, and also celebrate festivals together with love. Together we all celebrate the festival with full enthusiasm and joy and share mutual love and happiness among all. All festivals are special for us, but some of them are our favorite festivals, which we like the most. We enjoy this festival very much. I have listed my favorite festivals below, which will enthrall you too.

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Short and Long Essay on My Favorite Festival in English

Essay – 1 my favorite festival – eid-ul-fitr (250 words).

introduction

Festivals are like a refreshment for all of us. All of us are busy with our work throughout the day and this festival gives us some rest from the burden of our work. Through festivals we get a chance to spend time with our family and relatives. This time is full of joy for children.

my favourite festival

Out of all the festivals, the festival which I like the most is “Eid-ul-Fitr”. It is the biggest festival of Islam celebrated all over the world. This festival starts a month in advance with the fasting of Ramadan. At the end of Ramadan, when the moon and the star appear in a straight line in the sky, the day after that Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid festival is celebrated. People offer prayers together on this day in mosques and hug each other and offer Eid greetings and best wishes. Everyone celebrates this festival with great enthusiasm. On this day everyone wears new clothes and goes to meet and greet each other. Many types of delicious dishes are prepared in everyone’s homes. People meet each other and give gifts and enjoy delicious food together.

I love this festival because I love the specially prepared vermicelli, sweets and dishes. I am very fond of eating such delicious food. On this day, on the invitation of my friend, I go to his house. He welcomes me with great respect and brings me some snacks and snacks and later he feeds me vermicelli and other dishes.

A special custom of this festival

There is a special custom of this festival, people donate some part of their earnings to the poor. This practice is known as “Zakaat”. People give money, clothes, food items, etc. to charity. Its main purpose is to share happiness and love among those people.

importance of ramadan

People keep fast on the holy occasion of Ramadan, and this fasting is done from morning till night. The practice of fasting on the holy occasion of Ramadan is considered very important from the religious and scientific point of view. It helps in detoxifying our entire body. It protects our body from obesity and also regulates our digestive system.

Eid-ul-Fitr is the most important festival of Muslims. Everyone celebrates it together with great love and harmony, due to which only the atmosphere of happiness and brotherhood should always remain around.

Essay – 2 My Favorite Festival – Holi (400 Words)

Festivals are an important part of our culture. There are many festivals which are celebrated in the country as well as all over the world. We feel blissful and refreshed through festivals, so we celebrate all festivals with great pomp. Holi festival is one of them which we celebrate with great enthusiasm, and it is one of my favorite festivals.

Holi is a major festival of Hindus and we celebrate it with great pomp. Holi is the festival of colours, hence it is also called as Rangotsav. This festival falls in the month of February-March. It is celebrated in the month of Falgun according to the Hindu calendar.

history of holi

In ancient times there was a demon named Hiranyakashipu. He had become the lord of the three worlds because of his strength, and he wanted the world to consider him as God and worship him. People used to worship him for fear of death, but his own son Prahlad refused to accept him as God. He was a devotee of Lord Vishnu and used to worship him.

Prahlad did not obey his father’s order and continued to worship Lord Vishnu. Seeing this, Hiranyakashipu became very angry and wanted to kill him. Hiranyakashipu’s sister was Holika, who had a boon that fire could not burn her. Therefore, at the behest of Hiranyakashipu, Holika took Prahlad and sat in the fire. But by the grace of Vishnu nothing happened to Prahlad and Holika got burnt. Prahlad escaped safely, then later Vishnu killed Hiranyakashipu in the incarnation of Narasimha. Since then this festival of Holi is celebrated.

ways to celebrate holi

On the festival of Holi, people wear white or old clothes and come out of the house and enjoy the colors of Holi. People get together and apply colors to each other and wish and wish Happy Holi. In some places there is a different way of playing Holi, people celebrate the festival of Holi with flowers, soil, water etc. There is also a custom of drinking cannabis in Holi. The festival of Holi is very enjoyable for children. He plays Holi with his own age and also throws colored balloons at people.

After noon, people take a bath after cleaning the colors on them and wear new clothes. Everyone enjoys the sweet Gujiya made on this special occasion. Many types of dishes are also prepared at home. People visit each other’s homes to wish and wish Happy Holi.

I celebrate this festival of Holi fiercely in my school. We all celebrate the festival of Holi with great pomp, we paint each other with colors and sweets and snacks are given to everyone to eat. Everyone enjoys dancing and singing and singing together.

Chemicals are mixed in today’s colors, so we should not use such colors. Due to this there is a fear of skin irritation and facial damage. We should play Holi to save water and organic colors so that along with our environment we are also safe.

This festival of Holi gives us the message to forget our differences and unite and get colored in one colour. It is a symbol of mutual love, harmony and brotherhood.

Essay – 3 My Favorite Festival – Deepawali (600 words)

Festivals are a part of our life. It brings happiness in our life. There is a history and its own importance behind celebrating festivals.

Diwali festival is one of my favorite festivals. Every year I eagerly wait for the festival of Diwali. The 4-5 days of Diwali are very enjoyable and interesting. It falls in the month of October or November and is an important festival of Hindus.

Diwali preparations

As Diwali approaches, the houses and shops are cleaned and painted. The rooms are thoroughly cleaned and decorated, as there is an old belief that on this day Goddess Lakshmi comes to the houses and showers her blessings. On this day, we light all earthen lamps with mustard oil. Lakshmi and Ganesha are worshiped on this day. These days the markets are full of new items and the markets are very crowded these days. People buy things of their choice and the same children take crackers and new clothes for themselves and celebrate Diwali with great enthusiasm.

festival of diwali

The festival of Dhanteras falls a day before Diwali. On the day of Dhanteras, there is a lot of excitement in the markets and people buy utensils, gold, silver etc. On the day of Diwali, we make Rangoli at the door of our homes and decorate the house with garlands of flowers. People wear new clothes on this day and worship Lakshmi and Ganesha in the evening. The doors and windows of the house are kept open so that Goddess Lakshmi comes to our homes. Later, after receiving the prasad, we light diyas in the terraces and rooms. After lighting the lamps all around, we go to the terrace and enjoy bursting crackers.

I love this festival very much because there is a simplicity in this festival. I love it when the whole family prays together. We get to eat laddus as prasad. There is only light all around which is very attractive.

Rangoli competition in my school on the occasion of Diwali

The practice of making Rangoli on the occasion of Diwali is very common. A rangoli making competition is organized in my school before Diwali holidays. Students who are fond of making Rangoli take part in this competition and display their art by making Rangoli. Rangoli competition is organized either singly or as a group. Students are very excited about this competition and students show their art with the help of flowers, colours, rice, flour, etc. Students make different types of colorful Rangoli with their skill. The student who makes the best Rangoli is rewarded.

It creates a different zeal in us about the festival and it is also a good way to get an opportunity to bring out the talent inside us. After this competition, sweets are also distributed among all the students.

Religious belief behind celebrating the festival

There are many religious stories behind celebrating the festival of Diwali. India is a country of various cultural and religious beliefs, so there are many religious beliefs behind celebrating the festival of Diwali. The most popular of all these beliefs is that of Lord Shri Ram returning to Ayodhya after completing 14 years of exile. During the exile, the demon Ravana kidnapped Mother Sita and took her to Lanka, and Lord Rama had killed Ravana and freed Sita and returned to Ayodhya on the same day. People decorated Ayodhya with diyas with great joy and gaiety on this day to commemorate the return of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana to Ayodhya. People had welcomed Ram in the city of Ayodhya with a very generous heart.

If we look at all the beliefs of this festival, then we can say that it symbolizes the victory of good over evil. The festival of lights of diyas or lights is a festival of happiness and victory over darkness and evil. This festival also gives us a message that we should always follow the path of truth and goodness.

Emphasis on celebrating pollution free Diwali

We celebrate the festival of Diwali every year with great pomp and gaiety. Many people also burn crackers on this day. Firecrackers emit a lot of smoke, due to which our environment is very polluted. Smoke from firecrackers contains many harmful substances. Due to this our Air Quality Index (AIQ) deteriorates, which causes great harm to our health. Due to these fumes of firecrackers, our environment also becomes very poisonous, due to which there is a lot of harm to the animals and animals. The noise made by firecrackers has a profound effect on our children, elderly and animals.

On this festival of Diwali, all the shops, houses, temples and all the surrounding places are lit up with lights, which gives us a very beautiful view. People of all religions of the country and abroad celebrate this major festival of Hindus with great pomp. This festival is also celebrated as a symbol of the victory of light over darkness and good over evil.

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• Winner 2018: Vesak Day

Vesak Day My Favourite Festival

Essay writing competition 2018 category: 12 - 15 years - winner -.

Winner is "Vesak Day" written by Nuthara Karunarathna. 

Nuthara lives in Sri Lanka and is a learner at Lyceum International School in Panadura. Below you will find Nuthara's award-winning essay. Here she will tell you how she celebrates the holiday with her family and what makes this day so special.

What and when is Vesak Day?

Vesak Day is a celebration of the Full Moon and a Buddhist festival. Celebrated by Buddhists around the world, this religious holiday celebrates the birth of Buddha.

The next Vesak Day will be celebrated on 23 May 2024.

We sit before the altar at home and quietly chant our prayers in a soft song. The little Buddha statuette in the center looks down kindly on us, and a basket of fresh flowers sit before the statuette. Incense wafts over to us from the joss sticks stuck into the pot of sand. Before the altar, a clay lamp burns with a single bright flame.

A symbol of joy, of light, deliverance and peace. Later in the night, we will go out, my parents and sister and I, and walk through the streets admiring the houses lit with hundreds of paper lanterns and tiny lights and the candles hanging from the trees. We will smile in recognition when we see the Buddhist flag – red, yellow, blue, orange and white – hanging beside every gate. We will mingle with the throng that fills the streets tonight, and it will not be dark in any corner because everybody is celebrating this holy day, and proclaiming our joy with light and decoration.

This is our holy day, which we call Vesak, the day in which our Bodhisattva prince was born and when he attained enlightenment and became the Lord Buddha. This is the full moon day in which He passed away after preaching his doctrine to the world. This is the day when our savior was born into this world, and we celebrate with everlasting joy. People will stop us on the streets; smiling, welcoming people offering us a drink, or sweets, or a packet of rice or sweet potato, and we accept them because we know that they are not doing this for money, or gratitude, but out of the kindness of their hearts.

I love Vesak for this, because it makes people kind, and brings out the best in us. We will go to the temple, resplendent in colored lights and fresh garlands of flowers. We will worship the monk and take his blessing for the new year that dawns today. We will smile and kneel before the huge compassionate statue of our Lord Buddha and murmur a prayer for good health and happiness.

We will light a lamp in the courtyard before we go, a single flame to burn throughout the night and light the way for others. And there will be no shut doors today, no houses in the dark.

We are a country of many religions, but we all choose to celebrate together. And if I see a Catholic man helping his neighbor hang lights on his roof or a Hindu family admiring the pandols, I will not be surprised, but I will be glad.

Perhaps my family and I will push our way through the crowded streets to see the huge pandol in the square, a forty-foot tall construction of colored lights that shift and change, telling a story of Lord Buddha, and we will stand there looking up at the swathes of multicolored light lighting up even the dark night. And I will stand there in awe at what this day has done, for there are thousands of people looking up at the beauty of this, and all of us harbor the same joy in our hearts. Today, our religion brings us together.

Anything else you would like to tell us?

Buddhism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and it is followed in many Asian countries. By writing this I hope to share my experiences with the rest of the world and allow them to share in Vesak, which is our most important festival of the year.

In the Age category 12 -15 years, Nuthara is winning for the second year! This time she shares with us her insights into one of the big world religions, and we all can learn from her beautiful story about 'Vesak Day'. We are very grateful for this skilfully composed essay. Well done, Nuthara! Congratulations!

Do you want to join in our next competition? Then bookmark our page and join our annual essay writing competition with your own fabulous story.

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Essay About Dashain Festival

Dashain festival is one of the greatest festivals in Nepal. It is celebrated with great joy and jubilation. Dashain is celebrated by the Hindu followers all over Nepal. It is the festival that brings happiness and delivers the message of unity among people. This festival signifies unity, the victory of truth, and the inception of happiness.

Dashain generally falls in Nepali Month Aswin( September ) lasts for 10 days. Each day has special rituals and activities to be performed. The festival starts from Ghatasthapana and ends at Vijaya Dashami. On Ghatasthapana, people sow rice and barley seeds on the pious corner of their house to grow seedlings called Jamara.

The first nine days of the festival are popularly called Navaratri. The goddess Durga is worshipped during this period. The 7th day is known as Fulpati and on this day Jamara is brought to the Hanuman Dhoka, Kathmandu from the Gorkha Durbar with the help of the priest. From Fulpati (8th day) until the 9th day, people sacrifice goats, ducks, buffaloes, and other birds & animals to the Goddess Durga. They worship the image of the Goddess Durga, some even visit temples. They do so wishing her blessing for power and prosperity. The main day of the Tika ie. the 10th day is called Vijaya Dashami.

On this day, people receive Tika( red-colored rice seeds ) on their forehead, Jamara on their head along with the blessings of the elder ones. They get blessings for good health, happiness, progress, prosperity, and longevity. People wear new clothes, visit relatives and enjoy delicious food items .

Dashain festival marks the victory of truth over untruth. With regard to this, Hindu scripture defines the two events as the starting of the celebration of the festival. The first one is when the cruel demon, Mahisasur was killed by the Goddess Durga. After this victory, the Dashain festival is believed to be started. Another one is when Ramchandra and Sita returned to Ayodhya after killing the evil Ravan who had kidnapped Sita. The celebration of Dashain has social and religious importance. It is an occasion of peace and goodwill.

📌 Another Essay – Essay on Importance of English Language

It is the festival in which family members gather and enjoy together. They forget their worries and indulge themselves in feasting and joy. Schools, offices, organizations, etc. remain closed during the time and people far away return back home for the festive celebration with their kith and kins. Despite this, Dashain has a dark side too. Numerous birds, animals are killed mercilessly. People engage themselves in taking drinks, different beverages, gambling, and so on. Some people even celebrate in an expensive and pompous style being in prolonged debt. Indeed, celebrating festivals like Dashain gives us complete joy and spreads a true message of brotherhood.

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The Best Things To Do in Seattle This Month: June 2024

Jump to: Comedy | Film | Food & Drink | Juneteenth | Live Music | Performance | Pride | Readings & Talks | Shopping | Visual Art

Hannah Gadsby: Woof! Remind Like List Hannah Gadsby really shook things up with her 2018 Netflix special Nanette , which landed the furious, courageous comic an Emmy, a Peabody, and a newfound audience who resonated with her brutally honest stand-up style. Gadsby found herself with plenty of time to "ponder" during the pandemic, so I'm stoked to see what she's come up with this time— The Guardian described Woof! as " refusing to toe the line. " LC Moore Theatre, Belltown (Fri June 7)

Lavender Rights Project Presents The Black Trans Comedy Showcase 2024 Remind Like List At this Black- and trans-centered comedy showcase, attendees can kiki and clap back with Lavender Rights Project, an organization supporting the Black intersex and gender-diverse community. Delicious drag dessert TS Madison will host the evening of laughs featuring Black trans comics like "Swiss Army Knife" Mx. Dahlia Belle, multi-hyphenate LA queen Quei Tann, and Alabama-born trailblazer Sunkee Angel. Sit back and enjoy with nibbles and drinks—you might win a raffle prize, too. LC SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill (Sat June 8)

Ronny Chieng: The Love To Hate It Tour Remind Like List The Daily Show with Trevor Noah contributor and Crazy Rich Asians  actor Ronny Chieng released a cynically sweet Netflix special, Ronny Chieng: Speakeasy , back in 2022, but his name might also ring a bell if you binged John Mulaney Presents: Everybody's in LA  last month. (He was on the "paranormal" episode with the bewigged hypnotist.) Chieng will drop by the Pacific Northwest on a new tour, perhaps to explain why we should outsource ass-kickings to the government . LC Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Fri June 21)

Bill Burr Remind Like List As a comedian with a big mouth, brash attitude, and selective filter, Bill Burr regularly offends people, which is pretty easy to do with the current profusion of snowflakes floating around the country. Also, no subject matter is off limits; during a Conan appearance, he touched on the military, obesity, and sexual harassment, all in one fell swoop, while on his next visit, he discussed his desire to yell at other peoples’ kids and how fatherhood is kind of like being the back-up quarterback—everyone else comes first. I don’t know what he’ll be discussing on his current tour, but belly laughs are guaranteed. FORMER STRANGER MANAGING EDITOR LEILANI POLK Moore Theatre, Belltown (June 26–29)

Science Fiction and Fantasy Short Film Festival Remind Like List Now in its 19th year, this annual fest presents the best in innovative sci-fi and fantasy cinema from around the world. Created in collaboration with the Seattle International Film Festival, MoPOP's SFFSFF tends to pack the house, selling out for the last 10 years with film fans eager for fresh space stories and tales from other worlds. Past SFFSFF flicks have earned Oscar nods and giant distribution deals, so show up and you might catch the next Everything Everywhere All At Once. LC SIFF Cinema Egyptian, Capitol Hill (June 1–2)

TRANSlations: 19th Annual Seattle Trans Film Festival Remind Like List One of only nine trans film festivals in the world, TRANSlations offers a hybrid showcase of trans-centered features, short films, and special events again this year. The fest will screen at Ark Lodge Theatres and the Beacon on June 7 and 8, with options for at-home streaming June 6–9. I'm stoked for selections like the Nashville-set Lavender Outlaw,  "punk rock fairytale"  How to Carry Water,  New Zealand narrative The Boy, The Queen, And Everything In Between, and the archival San Francisco flick  Boys in the Backyard. LC Various locations (June 6–9)

Collide-O-Scope: Pride Edition - Hosted by Shane Wahlund & Michael Anderson Remind Like List Collide-O-Scope is the brilliant brain baby of Shane Wahlund and Michael Anderson, two local filmmakers and pop culture know-it-alls who cut, clip, and splice their way through hours and hours of music videos, movies, television shows, old commercials, and other footage to piece together spellbinding video collages. It's not a slap-dash memeification of vintage clips to get an easy laugh from 13-year-old YouTube addicts, Collide-O-Scope is an art form, a thoughtful and smart curation of strange, hilarious, surprising, and at times even touching moments of our history. (And I'm not just saying all these nice things because Wahlund is  The Stranger 's director of video production. I liked Collide-O-Scope long before knowing Wahlund, as its been a Seattle staple for more than 12 years !) A tip: Collide-O-Scope often sells out, so get your tickets sooner than later. STRANGER ARTS AND CULTURE EDITOR MEGAN SELING Here-After at the Crocodile, Belltown (Mon June 10)

I Saw the TV Glow Remind Like List Nonbinary filmmaker Jane Schoenbrun's first feature-length flick, We're All Going to the World's Fair , was a creepy foray into the world of online horror gaming, following one teenager's descent into an increasingly unsettling fantasy. It stirred up positive reviews at Sundance, and solidified Schoenbrun as a director to watch. Lo and behold, Schoenbrun landed an A24 flick with  I Saw the TV Glow,  which documents a teen's investigations into an eerie, supernatural TV show. Fans of online wormholes and creepypasta shouldn't miss it. LC Northwest Film Forum, Capitol Hill (June 12–16)

Ryuichi Sakamoto: Opus Remind Like List Ryuichi Sakamoto, Oscar-winning composer, unparalleled style icon , and one of the three melodic geniuses behind the Tokyo electronic outfit Yellow Magic Orchestra, passed away last year after a battle with cancer. (Chances are good that you've heard YMO's arty electro-pop tunes, but if not, throw this on before continuing.) Ryuichi Sakamoto | Opus is Sakamoto's swan song—as a parting gift in 2022, he curated, sequenced, and performed a piano concert that "wordlessly narrates his life through his wide-ranging oeuvre." You'll hear selections from his pop icon days in YMO, his scores created for Bernardo Bertolucci, and his reflective final album. LC SIFF Film Center, Uptown (June 14–16)

FOOD & DRINK

Bacon Eggs & Kegs Remind Like List This festival revolves around the combination of savory, gut-busting breakfast foods and heady booze. Day drinking is encouraged with craft beers from over 30 local breweries, ciders, and seltzers, plus mimosas, boozy root beer floats, Irish coffee, and a 30-foot Bloody Mary bar with dozens upon dozens of toppings (including tater tots, mozzarella sticks, jalapeño poppers, veggies, herbs, pickles, puffed Cheetos, bacon, and pork rinds). You're probably going to want to clear your schedule for that requisite post-brunch nap. Entertainment includes DJ Supreme La Rock, dueling pianos, giant lawn games, bacon bingo, photo ops with a gigantic inflatable skillet, and more. A portion of proceeds benefits the nonprofit SCM Medical Missions, which aims to bring relief to people affected by conflict and natural disaster in the Middle East and North Africa. JB Lumen Field, SoDo (June 1–2)

Bite of Greece Remind Like List Longing for a  Mamma Mia! -esque escape to Greece? Head to this free festival to stuff yourself with gyros, slow-roasted lamb sandwiches, grilled souvlaki, Greek salad, spanakopita, and other authentic Mediterranean delights prepared by the community of the Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption. You'll get to peruse a marketplace with pastries, crafts, imported deli items, and more. Plus, brush up on your fancy footwork with Greek dancing lessons and traditional live music. JB Greek Orthodox Church of the Assumption, Capitol Hill (June 1–2)

Pierogi Fest 2024 Remind Like List To know pierogi, the absurdly comforting and starchy Polish dumplings, is to love them. This wildly popular yearly event from the Polish Cultural Center gives you an opportunity to shovel the petite pockets of dough into your face by the plateful, with fillings like potato and cheese; meat, sauerkraut and mushrooms; sweet cheese; and blueberries. Plus, try pastries, Polish dogs, and beer, and take in a performance from the Polish Vivat Musica! Choir. Bags of frozen pierogi and other Polish delicacies are also available, so you can stock up for future cravings. JB Polish Home Association, Miller Park (Sat June 8)

Seattle Bakes Back!: A Bake Sale for Reproductive Rights Remind Like List The teams behind the cult favorite bakeries Ben's Bread and Saint Bread have joined forces to host this bake sale to raise funds for the Northwest Abortion Access Fund. Featuring some of the city's most sought-after names, including Doce Donuts, Raised Doughnuts, Paper Cake Shop, Zylberschtein's, and Rachel's Bagels and Burritos, the lineup is sure to beguile even the most discerning carb connoisseurs. Plus, a steady flow of coffee from the Portland-based roaster Proud Mary will keep everyone in attendance sufficiently caffeinated. Go enjoy some community and throw some cash at baked goods and reproductive justice. JB Saint Bread, Portage Bay (Sun June 9)

The Stranger's Burger Week 2024 Remind Like List Hamburglars, it's your time to shine. For one week only, participating restaurants all over the city will be creating original, specialty burgers for only $12. Plot your own personalized burger adventure and try as many as you like. You won't get a trophy or anything, but you will have bragging rights among your fellow burger lovers and one very satisfied stomach. For maximum success, we recommend wearing something with an elastic waistband. Plus, don't forget to tip the kitchen staff and servers, take lots of photos, and post on social media using #seattleburgerweek. Various locations (June 10–16)

Emmett and Mamie-Till Mobley: Let the World See Remind Like List Nearly 70 years ago, Emmett Till's beaten and decomposed body was returned to his mother, who demanded an open casket at his funeral so that all attendees could bear witness to the brutalities of racism. Opening on Juneteenth, Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley: Let the World See  was created in collaboration with the Till family, the Emmett Till & Mamie Till-Mobley Institute, the Emmett Till Interpretive Center, and the Children’s Museum of Indianapolis. Show up to learn more about Till's tragic murder and how you can become a "ripple for justice" in your community. LC Northwest African American Museum, Central District 

Atlantic Street Center's 23rd Annual Juneteenth Celebration Remind Like List For the 23rd year, Atlantic Street Center welcomes the community to celebrate Juneteenth with a day full of live performances, delicious food, local vendors, family-friendly activities, and a resource fair. If it's anything like last year, you can expect step performances, tap dancing, jump rope tricks, and hip-hop. Juneteenth commemorates the final enforcement of the Emancipation Proclamation on June 19, 1865 (it was signed two years earlier!) in Texas at the end of the Civil War, and modern celebrations spotlight Black excellence and connection. If you can't make it out, don't worry! The whole thing will be streaming on Rainier Avenue Radio . SL Rainier Beach Community Center, Dunlap (Sat June 22)

Echo & The Bunnymen Remind Like List You can easily identify the illustrious post-punk quartet Echo & The Bunnymen from their full-bodied vocals, ethereal instrumentation, and wind-tossed hairstyles (set in place with lots of hairspray, of course). Let them add some doom and gloom to the spring season (we need more, right?) with songs like "The Killing Moon" and "Lips Like Sugar" as they bring their Songs to Learn and Sing tour to Seattle. AV Showbox SoDo, SoDo (Mon June 3)

Jon Batiste: Uneasy Tour Remind Like List In 2022, Jon Batiste won the coveted Grammy for Album of the Year, beating out pop radio heavies like Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, Lil Nas X, Billie Eilish, and Doja Cat—and for good reason! On his award-winning album WE ARE , Batiste is credited for playing over two dozen instruments along with self-producing, writing, arranging, and composing. He will support his newest output, World Music Radio , which is more radio-ready than ever with pop hooks, hip-hop beats, and A-list features like Lana Del Rey, Lil Wayne, and Seattle's own Kenny G. AV Chateau Ste. Michelle, Woodinville (Wed June 5)

Daryl Hall + Elvis Costello & The Imposters with Charlie Sexton Remind Like List This lineup looks like it hopped right out of my dad's music cabinet like a classic rock-themed version of Toy Story. Smooth groove legend Daryl Hall will stop by Carnation for a solo performance just months after suing his long-time bandmate John Oates . New wave phenom Elvis Costello and his backing band the Imposters and longtime rocker Charlie Sexton (of " Beat's So Lonely " fame) will get the evening started. Here’s hoping that Hall will play some songs from Hall & Oates' 1973 masterpiece Abandoned Luncheonette . AV Remlinger Farms, Carnation (Thurs June 6)

Car Seat Headrest Remind Like List Seattle indie-rockers Car Seat Headrest began in 2010 as a solitary project of frontman Will Toledo, who self-released ten albums throughout his college career. Now, on Making A Door Less Open , the band's second album as a full four-piece, the quartet continues experimenting with their sound by incorporating buzzing electronics. On the album, Toledo takes on an alternate persona called "Trait," a mysterious gas-masked character who embraces party music. “Trait is a creature filled with exuberant energy," he told the Guardian . "The character is a way to be an embodiment of that energy rather than some schmuck with a microphone.” AV Woodland Park Zoo, Phinney Ridge (Thurs June 20)

Iron & Wine Remind Like List Indie-folk top dog Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) has dedicated the majority of the past nine years to collaborative projects—releasing albums with Calexico, Jesca Hoop, and Ben Bridwell. Now, Beam is back with a new solo album, Light Verse,  which returns to form with the finger-picked tear-jerkers he's known for. Southern Gothic folk artist Amythyst Kiah will open. AV Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Thurs June 20)

Vampire Weekend Remind Like List Portland Mercury arts and culture editor Suzette Smith writes: "I started listening to Vampire Weekend in design school for their consistent versatility: You can draw to it, talk over it, or you can take it and the rhymes by singer/guitarist Ezra Koenig pretty seriously. With the departure of the group’s synth player and all-around genius Rostam Batmanglij in 2016, fans stepped into the new record cautiously, and waited for their subsequent albums patiently." And, luckily, the five-year-long wait for Only God Was Above Us  was well worth it. Drawing inspiration from 20th century New York City, Koenig and co. ponder the generation's existence in the shadows of the past; notably, long gone famed New Yorkers and defunct storefronts. Guitarist, vocalist, and founding member of Phish Mike Gordon will open. AV Climate Pledge Arena, Uptown (Thurs June 20)

Adrianne Lenker Remind Like List Hailed by illustrious publications such as Pitchfork and NPR, Big Thief frontwoman Adrianne Lenker employs homey guitars, acoustic pianos, and grounded-yet-whimsical storytelling on her latest output, Bright Future . The album was recorded straight to tape with a small group of musicians, for a result that is raw, warm, and delightfully imperfect. Anticipate a similarly intimate sound as Lenker swings through Seattle for a rare solo show. AV Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Sat June 22)

Beyond Wonderland Remind Like List Get lost down the rabbit hole into a swirling wonderland of electronic dance music, dazzling art installations, out-of-this-world dancers, carnival rides, and idyllic views from the Gorge at this two-day festival. The lineup this year, which features over sixty artists (!!), includes big-name producers like Mellodeath (Marshmello with SVDDEN DEATH), Zedd, Dillon Francis, Wuki, Deorro, SIDEPIECE, Disco Lines, Biscits, Odd Mob with OMNOM, Dimension, and Adventure Club. AV Gorge Amphitheatre, George (June 22–23)

Juana Molina Remind Like List Argentine singer-songwriter Juana Molina has lived many lives. The daughter of famed parents (tango singer Horacio Molina and actress Elva “Chunchuna” Villafañe)  made a name for herself as a popular comedic actress before pursuing a career as an experimental musician. Although her debut album perplexed Argentinian fans and media, Molina eventually moved to LA where she released her sophomore album, Segundo , an experimental folk masterpiece that utilizes electronics and looping. She will return to Seattle this month on a solo tour, performing old and new material with lots of improvisations, some of which will be crowd directed. Triple Door, Downtown (Sun June 23)

Jessica Pratt Remind Like List Jessica Pratt is known for her otherworldly, stripped-down acoustic folk songs which sound simultaneously of the past and the future. Her 2012 self-titled debut has a magical quality that's hard to name—her voice echoes like a mermaid humming in a damp alcove or a fairy singing her friends a lullaby. Pratt's new album Here in the Pitch enters the tangible world of the 1960s with orchestral pop songs reminiscent of Marianne Faithfull, the Walker Brothers, and Dusty Springfield. Don't miss an opening set from San Francisco-based indie rock artist Tony Molina. AV Neumos, Capitol Hill (Wed June 26)

PERFORMANCE

Two Dykes and a Mic: Topping Your Best Friend Tour Remind Like List McKenzie Goodwin and Rachel Scanlon's very gay podcast stops by Seattle on June 1, which means it's Pride Month official. Self-described as "the gayest show of all time" (I guess they haven't heard the Neil Patrick Harris episode of Wait Wait...Don't Tell Me! ), listeners are invited to "snort queer joy and laugh [their] gay cans off." Yay! Goodwin, aka the gay Norah Jones of comedy, and Scanlon, who is also gay, will share relationship advice, Bumble fumbles, and new ruminations ("What's gayer?" and "Who tops who?" among them) at this live edition of the pod. LC Neptune Theatre, University District (Sat June 1)

Jinkx Monsoon & Major Scales: Together Again, Again! Remind Like List We can hear the cackling from down the street. The Pacific Northwest's premiere "internationally tolerated Jewish narcoleptic drag queen" Jinkx Monsoon will cast a campy spell and bring more of the weirdo dramatics for which she's known and loved on the concert tour Together Again, Again!, which sees the two-time RuPaul's Drag Race winner flex her musical chops alongside "musical prodigy" Major Scales. Water off a duck's back!  LC Seattle Repertory Theatre, Uptown (June 1–23)

Clyde's Remind Like List As a Pulitzer Prize winner and 2007 MacArthur genius, Lynn Nottage often centers working-class people in her storytelling—her 2015 play Sweat centered small-town Pennsylvania factory workers facing job insecurity, racism, and class disparities. This time around, she had me at "play about a sandwich." Nottage's Clyde's  follows a team of formerly incarcerated kitchen staff who navigate life after lock-up while on a "quest to create the perfect sandwich," so I hope you brought napkins. Check out this interpretation of the play for a funky cross between The Bear and Abbott Elementary. LC ArtsWest, Junction (June 6–30)

Last Podcast On The Left Remind Like List Delight your ghoulish sensibilities with a live edition of this frighteningly addictive comedic podcast dedicated to freaky and violent real-life events (or events that a lot of people believe in), including cultish shenanigans, demonic apparitions, alien abductions, and more. Join Marcus Parks, Henry Zebrowski, and Ben Kissel to "laugh at things you will probably feel guilty about later." (True enough, but the humor is at the expense of killers and charlatans—and the occasional Slender Man erotic fanfic—so let that temper your shame as you will.) FORMER EVEROUT ARTS EDITOR ELAINA FRIEDMAN Paramount Theatre, Downtown (Sat June 8)

Therapy Gecko Live: The Lizard Agenda Tour Remind Like List As one of the millions of people on earth who has tried therapy, I'd never considered that a man-sized, anthropomorphic gecko might be the actual answer to my problems—yet perhaps I do need a soft-voiced, wholesome counselor version of Lyle, Lyle, Crocodile in my life. It's no weirder than whatever Goop is up to. Therapy Gecko , hosted by a dude who is, coincidentally, also named Lyle, is casually off-kilter and a little psychedelic, like something you'd encounter on Adult Swim or Between Two Ferns . Lyle grants an empathetic, reptilian ear to all sorts of oddball questions from anonymous callers on his podcast; we're assuming he'll offer a lending hand (do geckos have hands?) to the audience at this performance. LC The Crocodile, Belltown (Sun June 9)

Boulet Brothers' Dragula Season 5 Remind Like List If you prefer your alt-drag shows with a side of gore and guts, you probably already revel in the chaos of the Boulet Brothers, whose punkish brand of eleganza often features bugs, gauged needles, pig brains, and live burial. (Contestants on The Boulet Brothers' Dragula don't exactly sashay away—they're "exterminated" in a freaky death scene. Okay then!!) Grab your hello uglies fan and gag for the duo's ghoulish glam when they drop by Seattle with the show's season five divas. They'll share the stage with the hot-yet-terrifying Niohuru X, the world's reigning Drag Supermonster. LC Moore Theatre, Belltown (Tues June 18)

Reality Gays - The "If You Can Dream It" Tour Remind Like List Reality Gays is a reality TV podcast that connects many of my disparate interests: sex positivity, classic literature, queer history, '80s country music, and absolute garbage television. No, they don't cover the polished oeuvre of Bravo—but lower-budget filth like 90 Day Fiancé , Seeking Sister Wives , Love After Lockup , and the god-forsaken, questionably incestuous dating show MILF Manor . Hosts Matt Marr (nicknamed "Matty"), a clinically trained therapist, makeup artist, and actor, and Jake Anthony (nicknamed "Poodle"), a music teacher, composer, and life coach, flex their talents in psychology, music, comedy, and cosmetology to dissect trashy television into content that is both hilarious and heartfelt. Just in time for Pride Month, Matty and Poodle will bring the If You Can Dream It tour to Seattle for a live taping of the podcast that is sure to include plenty of improv, risqué costumes, and tragic stories about their Southern upbringings. AV Triple Door, Downtown (Thurs June 20)

Girl From The North Country Remind Like List When I was a teenager, a boy once "broke up" with me by copy-pasting the lyrics to Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" into his AIM away message, thus cementing my permanent and near-lifelong disdain for the grumpy troubadour. But maybe you love Bob Dylan. Good for you!! This Tony Award-winning musical reimagines 20 of Dylan's hits and is set against the backdrop of a guesthouse in '30s-era Duluth. Girl From The North Country includes renditions of “Forever Young,” “All Along The Watchtower,” “Hurricane,” “Slow Train Coming,” and “Like A Rolling Stone." I'm not sure if "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" is featured, but if it is, do me a favor—don't tell me about it. LC Paramount Theatre, Downtown (June 25–30)

Seattle Pride in the Park 2024 Remind Like List Kick off the 50th anniversary celebrations of Seattle Pride with a day of music, dancing, performances, and more. Emceed by drag favorites Versace Doll and Betty Wetter , one stage will feature live performances from the likes of headliner LIVt and groovy sextet Day Soul Exquisite while the other will showcase local DJs spinning dance tracks. It wouldn't be pride without Drag Queen Storytime, and the family and teen space from Camp Ten Trees will also return. New this year, GenPride hosts an area specifically designed for seniors with accessibility features like ADA restrooms, ASL interpreters, and priority seating. As always, there will be an alcohol garden, a sober area, food trucks, community booths, queer vendor marketplace, and the most welcoming vibes. SL Volunteer Park, Capitol Hill (Sat June 1)

Capitol Hill Pride March and Rally Remind Like List Cal Anderson is usually full of dogs and their humans, but this fourth Saturday in Pride Month will look a little bit different. A doggie drag contest will have everyone oohing, aahing, and wagging their tails. Activists and artists are scheduled to take the stage as we celebrate queerness and reflect on the origins of pride at Stonewall. SL Cal Anderson Park, Capitol Hill (Sat June 22)

Trans Pride Seattle 2024 Remind Like List Celebrate trans joy with an evening of performances, community speakers, a resource fair, and "chill vibes." The Gender Justice League works to strengthen and connect the two-spirit, trans, and gender diverse (2STGD) community and its allies, a goal highlighted by this all-ages, free, and accessible event (masks are required in an effort to make it safe for immunocompromised community members). In a country that's increasingly passing laws restricting the rights of trans folx, it's more important than ever to be visible as we come together and celebrate trans lives. SL Volunteer Park Amphitheater, Capitol Hill (Fri June 28)

Cuff Complex Pride Fest Remind Like List Cuff Complex is back with its long-standing pride festival—this year, the lineup includes Grammy-nominated synth-pop sensation Hot Chip, renowned electronic music producer Karsten Sollors, legendary drag queen Lady Bunny, London-based collective Horse Meat Disco, self-proclaimed "one-woman funk machine" DJ Holographic, RuPaul's Drag Race alumna Kornbread, and many more. The three-day affair will kick off with a snazzy Pride edition of Bearracuda on Friday followed by live performances on Saturday and Sunday. AV Cuff Complex, Capitol Hill (June 28–30)

Queer/Pride Festival 2024 Remind Like List This event is sort of like if Seattle PrideFest got tangled up with the Capitol Hill Block Party. Outside of Queer/Bar, gaggles of queer icons will take the outdoor stage with music, drag, and burlesque performances. After last year's lineup boasted headliners Pabllo Vittar, Trixie Mattel, and Charo, it was hard to imagine what could top (or even match) that holy trinity, but they did it again! Queen of indie sleaze Santigold will headline with queer pop sister duo Tegan and Sara, "sugar trap" rapper Rico Nasty, art pop polymath Perfume Genius, and indie rock band Juliette & the Licks (fronted by none other than Juliette Lewis). Plus, RuPaul's Drag Race stars Shea Couleé, Alaska Thunderfuck, Detox, Roxxxy Andrews, Lady Camden, and Bosco will goop and gag the crowd alongside local drag talent. AV Various locations, Capitol Hill (June 28–30)

Wildrose Pride 2024 Remind Like List This is your semi-regular reminder that there are only 37 surviving lesbian bars in the United States, so it's a rare and special thing to be able to join in amongst the pride revelry at the Wildrose, one of the west coast's oldest establishments catering to dykes. Their three-day lineup of festivities this year, hosted by the "Chaos Queen" Frizzancis and singer Adra Boo, includes appearances from DJs SailorHank, Summersoft, Chelsea Starr, Mixxtress, Mixx America, and Ricki Leigh. Plus, look forward to a karaoke competition, burlesque seductresses Gritty City Sirens, dark wave band Dark Chisme, and the yacht rock spectacular Ship Show—there's truly something for everyone. JB Wildrose, Capitol Hill (June 28–30)

Pride Weekend at Rhein Haus Remind Like List RuPaul's Drag Race stans, you're bound to hear a few names you recognize at this Pride party for the gods. Iconique show competitors Darienne Lake and Heidi N Closet will appear alongside local glamazons like Beau Degas, Monday Mourning, and Lisa Frank fantasy Anita Spritzer at the two-day dragstravaganza, which starts with a bang at the Saturday drag brunch (jams provided by DJ Baby Van Beezly), followed by a dance party 'til late. On Sunday, shake it off at Heidi's drag brunch (yes, you should go to brunch twice), where you'll also spot Moscato Sky and Rowan Ruthless. LC Rhein Haus, Central District (June 29–30)

Seattle Pride Parade 2024 Remind Like List Seattle's Pride Parade is a little more than a don't-miss—it's a gargantuan gathering of over 250 participating groups, with 300,000 spectators turning up to show off their sparkle. For the 50th anniversary this year, Seattle sports legends and power couple Sue Bird and Megan Rapinoe will serve as the parade’s grand marshals as the event commemorates the first Seattle LGBTQIA+ gathering for collective resistance. Celebrations kick off with a pre-party at Westlake Park; the parade will start at 11 am at Fourth and Pike before marching loud and proud past two stages and concluding at Denny Way. Expect DJs, advocacy talks, food trucks, beer gardens, and traffic disruptions if for some ill-advised reason you attempt to drive downtown. SL Downtown Seattle (Sun June 30)

>> Check out our roundup of the biggest Pride events this month Like List <<

Readings & talks.

Nana Kwame Adjei‑Brenyah Remind Like List Unless you've been hiding under a book-shaped rock recently, you've probably seen a bright yellow copy of Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah's 2023 novel Chain-Gang All-Stars, which was a finalist for last year's National Book Award for Fiction. The eagerly anticipated novel imagined a dystopian death match program set within for-profit prisons, and was described by the Washington Post as "like Orwell’s 1984  and Atwood’s  The Handmaid’s Tale ." Not too shabby for a speculative fiction author who's relatively new to the scene! (Adjei-Brenyah's only 33.) LC Town Hall Seattle, First Hill (Tues June 4)

Timothy Egan presents A Fever in the Heartland Remind Like List Timothy Egan, beloved Seattle dweller and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Immortal Irishman, The Big Burn, and other works of history, travel writing, and true crime, takes on the KKK in his newest tome. A Fever in the Heartland traces the life of Madge Oberholtzer, a "seemingly powerless" woman who exposed the cruelties of D. C. Stephenson, a KKK leader, murderer, rapist, and candidate for the world's worst dude. Oberholtzer's deathbed testimony provoked the demise of the second incarnation of the Ku Klux Klan—learn more about it at this talk. LC Third Place Books, Lake Forest Park (Thurs June 6)

Maggie Smith with Jane Wong Remind Like List Poet's poet Maggie Smith plumbs the depths of her disintegrating marriage in You Could Make This Place Beautiful, reflecting on contemporary womanhood, gender roles, and power dynamics with an inquisitive, empathetic eye. (If you dig Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk, this memoir will be up your alley.) Jane Wong, whose recent memoir Meet Me Tonight in Atlantic City traces her upbringing in a Chinese takeout restaurant on the Jersey shore, will moderate a post-reading conversation.  LC Hugo House, Capitol Hill (Sat June 8)

Khushbu Shah with Lauren Ko: Culture & Cuisine Remind Like List With her debut cookbook Amrikan: 125 Recipes From the Indian Diaspora , Food & Wine writer and editor Khushbu Shah asks the question, “What is Indian food in America?” She delves into the answer not only with irresistible-sounding recipes I'm eager to add into my rotation, like saag paneer lasagna, achari paneer pizza, spinach tadka dal with rice, panipuri mojitos, and masala chai Basque cheesecake, but also with images and essays that meditate on the connection between food and identity. As Shah told the New York Times in a 2019 interview, "Food is undeniably intersectional. It’s impossible — it’s irresponsible — to deny it." She'll chat about the release with local baker, artist, and Pieometry author Lauren Ko, whose mind-bending pastry creations have earned her hundreds of thousands of followers on her Instagram account @lokokitchen.  Town Hall Seattle, First Hill (Tues June 18)

Matt Baume Presents "Thank You for Being a Friend: The Enduring Queer Joy of the Golden Girls" Remind Like List Cultural critic, pop culture YouTuber, and former Stranger staff writer Matt Baume's 2023 tome Honey, I'm Homo! Sitcoms, Specials, and the Queering of American Culture was a deep dive into the "subversive" queer comedy storylines that transformed the American sitcom and continue to shape cultural attitudes toward LGBTQ+ folks today. The author will drop by Elliott Bay again (and just in time for Pride Month) to chat about television history's most beloved quartet of old ladies, who were also steadfast queer allies. Baume will walk through key lessons from The Golden Girls,  like "helping friends to come out on their own terms, learning why marriage equality matters, [and] combating stigma around HIV." LC Elliott Bay Book Company, Capitol Hill (Fri June 21)

Cutie Fest Remind Like List Founded by Kaitlin Fritz in 2022, Cutie Fest is an alternative craft market that offers an accessible, inclusive alternative to other similar events, requiring no vendor fee. Since its inception, the festival has also spawned a nonprofit called the Cutie Foundation focused on empowering young artists. In the past, Cutie Fest has taken place at Cal Anderson Park, but excitingly, this iteration will be the first to take place at Bell Street Park in downtown Seattle and to be supported by the Downtown Seattle Association, meaning there will be capacity for food stalls, live music stages, and amenities like bathrooms. It's been so heartening to see this scrappy grassroots movement grow, and I can't wait to be there with a fun beverage in hand, ready to throw money at everything from handmade Crocs charms to Shrinky Dink keychains. Prepare to make lots of new queer friends. JB Bell Street Park, Downtown (June 22–23)

Fremont Fair 2024 Remind Like List I'm gonna be real with you: I've never been to the Fremont Fair. It always falls on Father's Day weekend so I'm typically with my pops, but this year, he's traveling! So I will without a doubt be soaking up the sun and all the Fremont quirkiness on a weekend full of market stalls, street performances, local bands, and general free-spirited merriment and artistic expression. If you're around Saturday afternoon, you literally can't miss the Solstice Parade , known for its elaborately painted nude cyclists, stilt-walkers, and giant puppets, among a stream of floats. Who's got a bike and some body paint I can borrow? SL Fremont, Northlake (June 22–23)

Gobble Up Remind Like List The indie craft show Urban Craft Rising typically hosts their annual specialty food show Gobble Up during the winter holiday season, but there's no reason that an array of tasty small-batch products should be relegated to the wintertime, so they're hosting this brand new summer version with over 75 small businesses and food trucks. If you want to plan ahead with your gift-giving, the Cancers, Leos, and Virgos in your life will surely appreciate birthday presents like hand-crafted salami, chili crisp, or wooden cutting boards—or just treat yourself to something special. JB Lake Union Park, South Lake Union (Sat June 29)

Stephanie Syjuco: After/Images Remind Like List Stephanie Syjuco's artworks were objects of my obsession in art school—the Manila-born conceptual artist often draws from archives, museums, and library collections to craft disruptive responses to colonialism, imperialism, capitalism, and war. It'll appeal to you if you're a nerd for research and good politics. In Stephanie Syjuco: After/Images,  the artist considers the camera, describing it as a "technology of imperialism that records and creates racialized American histories." The exhibition’s reconstructed archival photographs, videos, and installations center the US occupation of the Philippines, American colonization overseas, and the troubling ideology of Manifest Destiny. LC Frye Art Museum, First Hill (June 1–Sept 8)

Poke in The Eye: Art of The West Coast Counterculture Remind Like List Even if you consider yourself a counterculture connoisseur, you might not be familiar with the West Coast's alternative art history, which tends to be left out of art history classes. Enter Poke in the Eye , a new exhibition spotlighting '60s- and '70s-era aesthetic practices that shirked the minimalist, chilly movements coming out of the East Coast at that time. Seattle and Bay Area artists were "intentionally offbeat," splashing color across figural and narrative compositions and making weird mouth sculptures . Hey, it's always been a little irreverent out here, right? LC Seattle Art Museum, Downtown (June 21–Sept 2)

Jacob Lawrence: American Storyteller Remind Like List Visual story-weaver Jacob Lawrence's paintings feel like an American history lesson. One of the 20th century's most affecting artists created genre scenes and "serial elaborations" on key events that blended unseen narratives and figural depictions. This was a little offbeat in a time when abstraction was king and Lawrence's themes (family, community, history) weren't necessarily à la mode. This retrospective curates works from SAM and local collections for a series of "case studies that survey the essential themes [informing Lawrence's] works." LC Seattle Art Museum, Downtown (June 28–Jan 5, 2025)

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Asha Puthli was nearly India’s first disco star. She’s now 79, and her tour’s selling out

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For months, Indian vocalist Asha Puthli has hauled a suitcase-size portable karaoke machine out of her condo in West Palm Beach, Fla. The septuagenarian lifts it onto a minibus that takes her to the recreation room at her retirement complex, where she sets up the machine — a gift from her new record label — to rehearse from her catalog to an empty hall.

“It was pretty tough to find a big-enough machine that I could still take to the clubhouse,” she laughed. “I went to one karaoke club in Palm Beach. They had all the standards on there, but, of course, they didn’t have any of my songs.”

Puthli’s career has taken her through smoky Mumbai jazz clubs and a hippie camp at Woodstock; dishing with Andy Warhol and being dressed by Halston and Manolo Blahnik as she sashayed through Studio 54 in New York City. She’s sung with sax giant Ornette Coleman and battled Sean “Diddy” Combs over unlicensed sampling.

She’s also struggled financially at times and hasn’t toured in 40 years. Although she lived in Los Angeles for five years in the 2010s, Puthli has never played here. Until Thursday, that is, when she’ll finally headline a sold out show at the experimental L.A. music club Zebulon.

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The show is a very-late-career laurel for an Indian artist who has entranced and defied music industries on three continents for decades. Her life and music embody the fascinated, fraught exchanges of pop culture between Asia and the West.

After an adoring re-mix project from an L.A. indie label devoted to lost South Asian pop, the 79-year-old Puthli is no longer ahead of her time.

“The Beatles took that Indian influence and brought it back to the West,” Puthli said. “But back then, you didn’t see many Indian artists saying, ‘Hey, it’s a two way street. You have influenced me too.’”

On the verdant back patio of a Silver Lake home (also the office for Naya Beat, the micro-indie label that’s re-releasing and re-mixing Puthli’s catalog), she takes a reporter’s hand and gingerly walks up the stairway to get her portrait taken. She laughed about the anti-glamorous shot that photographer Richard Avedon took for her 1975 LP “She Loves to Hear the Music.” But on this day, Puthli posed with the same poise she learned in her classical Indian and Western dance training.

“She was always the poster child of ‘I can’t believe all this happened’,” said Raghav Mani, Naya Beat‘s co-founder. “That she wasn’t a household name, even in India, it’s kind of insane.”

“The definition of a star is someone you want to help,” said Douglas Mcgowan, who runs A&R for the Numero Group label, and who was putting up Puthli at his home while she rehearsed for her tour. “She’s a star.”

Puthli’s life embodies pop music in the post-colonial world, with all its promise and incomprehension. Raised in then-Bombay by traditional parents (her father participated in Mohandas Gandhi’s “ Salt March ”), she studied Hindustani classical music, yet was captivated by jazz, performing in local clubs with her back to the audience to stay discrete. She was a proto-hippie in her own country, traveling to rural villages to see India’s wild diversity.

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“There were certain traditional expectations, such as having an arranged marriage,” she said. “But I was pretty adamant to do what I want.”

A New Yorker writer, Ved Mehta, met her on a reporting trip. “Asha is a beautiful, mercurial girl, just out of the university, who has applied for a job as a … air hostess simply in order to go to London and hear a real jazz vocalist, and perhaps become one herself,” he wrote in the essay “Jazz in Bombay,” published in his 1970 book “Portrait of India.”

After landing a scholarship to study with the Martha Graham Dance Company in New York, Puthli trekked to the Woodstock festival in 1969 with a flower-power crew. She befriended the New York downtown demimonde, including Warhol. She recalled pitching him an idea for saucy LP art. (“He said ‘What do you plan for your album cover?’ I said ‘Maybe a man’s crotch with a zipper, and you pull a pink vinyl out of it.” A few years later, Warhol used it for the Rolling Stones’ LP “Sticky Fingers.”)

She was roommates with Holly Woodlawn, the trans actress name-checked on Lou Reed’s “Walk on the Wild Side.” Mehta connected Puthli with John Hammond, a record producer for Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Bob Dylan, who signed her to CBS. The company’s then-president, Clive Davis, didn’t get her. “He said, ‘No, it’s jazz, It won’t sell,’” Puthli recalled.

When she sang on Coleman’s 1972 LP “Science Fiction” — keening improvisation cutting through a ferocious band — the sax legend gave her a warning about America.

“He said, ‘Asha, don’t even try and be mainstream music. They’ll only accept you when you do Indian music.’ My whole raison d’être was to build the bridge between one of the oldest cultures, India, with the youngest, America. But he was right, of course.”

Puthli cut four albums for various global CBS labels in the 1970s, including her 1976 disco crossover “The Devil Is Loose,” which featured her best known song, “Space Talk.” The sultry number became a favorite cut at David Mancuso’s New York City venue the Loft and later a crate-digger goldmine for rap producers (it’s the backbone of G-Unit’s “The World.”).

But label marketing executives insisted she had a problem. As a South Asian singer in a largely Black and white music industry, who was her audience?

“CBS did a focus group studying whether I would sell in America,” she recalled, acidly. “They said, ‘You’re not going to sell to the whites, you’re not going to sell to Black people.’ They said the Indians living in America liked Indian film music.

“I don’t feel like a stranger in any country,” Puthli added. “But the industry made me feel like an outsider. It was a kick in the gut.”

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Puthli never disappeared entirely, but she gave birth to her son Janu and bounced among smaller labels in the ’80s, her career slowed down. She ran a PR agency and helped launch the Green Cross environmental group with former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993. She’d make occasional festival appearances — she played Central Park SummerStage in New York in 2006 — and fought for her legacy.

She recalled Diddy sampling “Space Talk” for the Notorious B.I.G.’s “The World Is Filled…” without permission. She tracked him down at a party at the L.A. restaurant Crustacean and sent Janu after him with her CD. She said Diddy threw it out a car window.

“What infuriated me was not that he had sampled my music but that he treated my son like that,” Puthli said. “I’m a lioness. How dare you?” (She said they settled out of court).

Her reputation as an unsung pioneer of South Asian pop music grew in the underground, though. Several reissue labels tried to compile her catalog but her master recordings and isolated instrument tracks were on unmarked hard drives buried in her home in Florida. Asha Puthli was a star who needed help.

In 2021, Mani and Filip Nikolic, a former member of the L.A. disco group Poolside who performs as Turbotito, started Naya Beat, a re-issue and remix label focused on reviving ambitious pop from the subcontinent. They’d included a Puthli track, “Chipko Chipko,” on their debut compilation.

“I don’t think Indians really knew what to make of her,” said Mani, who is of Indian descent. “It was unheard of for any South Asian woman to do what she did. At the time, through the lens of the Beatles and Ravi Shankar, it looked like Indian musicians were all sitting on top of a rock meditating and playing sitar. It’s hard to break through that mold even today, and she did that 50 years ago.”

Nikolic had worked ”Space Talk” and other tracks into his DJ sets, struck by how good the records still sound today. “‘Space Talk’ has such a sick baseline,” he said. “A classic. And with ‘Chipko,’ we thought it was just kind of a Michael Jackson cover, but it’s about the Indian environmental movement.”

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They persuaded Puthli to give them a long weekend to comb through her house to find the master recordings to her albums, with an eye toward a bigger release.

“It felt like an archaeological trip. It was crazy the amount of stuff she had on 40 hard drives,” Nikolic said. “I think they’d been protective about it all. It was a battle to convince them that we can be trusted and we’re here to help.”

Last year, Mani and Nikolic’s digging culminated in “Disco Mystic: Select Remixes Vol. 1,” the first of an anthology of Puthli remixes, featuring dance music legends like Maurice Fulton and Dimitri From Paris, alongside younger acts like Psychemagik, Jitwam and their own edit of Puthli’s “One Night Affair.”

The EP sold out of two pressings. The pair weren’t alone in thinking Puthli was due for a revival: In 2022, Raveena, an Indian American R&B singer, named her Warner Music debut album “Asha’s Awakening” and featured Puthli on the song “Asha’s Kiss.”

“There’s finally a kind of a prominence of South Asian artists,” Mani said. Movie fans proved they’ll watch uncompromised, gonzo Indian films like “RRR” and flock to see artists like Jai Paul and Nav at Coachella. Along the way, Mani said, “They’re finding out about Asha’s story for the first time, and there’s this incredible kind of a-ha moment. It’s a compelling full circle of her music regaining popularity, but also restoring her legacy.”

Puthli, meanwhile, has to prep for a formidable tour schedule, including a stop at the Glastonbury festival in the U.K. in June and a run of Australian dates.

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“When people ask me how I’m preparing, I’m preparing by going from doctor to doctor,” she laughed. “At my age, that’s what we do.”

This record and tour are by no means a last valediction to her music career. Now that the music world has re-discovered Asha Puthli, she wants to make up for lost decades.

“I love these small venues, but I want to do the Hollywood Bowl. I want Grammys, keep it coming,” Puthli laughed. “There is this second and third generation of children of Indian immigrants, which was not there when I was making music. They’re now in their 20s or 30s or 40s. They’re the ones who can still hear me.“

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August Brown covers pop music, the music industry and nightlife policy at the Los Angeles Times.

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North American Piano Competition and Festival Live in Milwaukee

by Kenneth Kapp

May 24, 2024

Photo by Pat Robinson

Godwin Friesen

Godwin Friesen performing with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in the 2022 North American Competition.

PianoArts is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to develop innovative ways to foster appreciation and performance of classical music.” One way to meet this goal is through the biennial piano competition and festival they host in partnership with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra. PianoArts was founded in 1995. The competition is open to pianists, ages 17 -22, currently residing or studying in North America. This year the semifinalists are Lucas Amory, Wanqing Jiang, Tanner Jorden, Benjamin Keating, Angeline Ma, Emma Taggart, Taylor Wang and Vanessa Yu. They were selected by the preliminary jury chaired by Robert Weirich and including Pallavi Mahidhara, and Melinda Masur. The judges for final rounds are Peter Takács, Aaron Wunsch, and Sean Chen. 

The competition will treat Milwaukee to a wonderful week of piano music. Two of the previous winners, Godwin Friesen and Solomon Ge, return for a  Prelude Concert: Contemporary Connections to the Classics on Thursday, May 30 at 7:30 pm.

According to Friesen, “The PianoArts Competition stands out from so many others because of the audience engagement element--they even have a special prize that goes to the competitor who gives the best verbal introductions of his/her pieces during the semifinal round. Speaking to the audience is an extremely rare requirement in music competitions, but this is an important value of cofounder Sue Medford… This kind of audience engagement wasn't something new for me, but it was great to be encouraged in that area.”

Solo Recitals: Semifinal Round, Friday, May 31, 1– 9:30 p.m.  Each of the eight semifinalists offer a 45-minute solo recital reflecting their personalities and how they communicate with an audience, two other aspects of the PianoArts mission.

Duo Recitals: Semifinal Round will convene Saturday, June 1, 9:30 a.m.–6 p.m. Each pianist will be paired with a member of the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra to showcase their collaborative skills. The finalists will be announced after this program has concluded.

An additional program,  Concert by the Masters , including all three members of the PianoArts jury, will be presented on Monday, June 3, 7:30 p.m. Aaron Wunsch and Wisconsin Conservatory pianist Stefanie Jacob open with Schubert’s “Fantasie in F minor.” Peter Takács performs Beethoven’s “Trio in E-flat Op. 70 No. 2” with MSO violinist Paul Hauer and cellist Madeleine Kabat. Brahms’s “Horn Trio” with Sean Chen, MSO First Associate Concertmaster Ilana Setapen, and Principal Horn Matthew Annin concludes the program.

All of the above programs will be hosted by the  Wisconsin Conservatory of Music,  1584 N Prospect Ave.

The festival and competition conclude on Tuesday, June 4, 4:30–11 p.m. at the Bradley Symphony Center beginning at 4:30 p.m. Here, the finalists will have the opportunity to perform with a major orchestra, another goal of PianoArts.

“I am privileged and honored to have worked with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra, to continue partnering with them, and to have such great support from our community and board of directors,” says Sue Medford, founder and artistic director of PianoArts. “ I’m pleased to also say that we now have international support for our competition ”with a difference.” I suppose it all started when I was a teenage pianist who played for a bassoon player in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra at a summer music camp. It’s hard to put into words the feeling of transitioning from the student world to the professional. Now that we see our former PianoArts competitors thriving as professionals, I believe that they had the same experience with PianoArts. This season, we have expanded these opportunities for our competitors. I have every confidence that we’ll have a bright, creative future in the arts with the leadership of the young artists performing in Milwaukee in 2024.”  

Below is a listing of the many programs taking place on the competition’s final day, June 4. 

4:30 p.m.,  Concerto Conversations:  Meaghan Heinrich, well known for her extensive insights about music and her presentation skills, will present an overview of the concertos to be performed during the competition’s Final Round featuring three finalists and the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra.

5 p.m.  Meet the North American Competition Finalists:  Meaghan Heinrich introduces and interviews the finalists.

5:30 p.m.  Piano Promenades:  Semifinalists perform their favorite piano solos prior to the Final Round & Awards Ceremony.

7:30 p.m.  The Grand Finale: Finalists perform concertos with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra and Conductor Yaniv Dinur.

9 p.m.  Rewarding Excellence:  At the conclusion of the performances and their deliberation, the jury presents the 2024 prizes, awards, and fellowships for Milwaukee residencies that lead to significant music careers.

10 p.m.  25th Anniversary Champagne Toast

Ticket information and more can be found at pianoarts.org .

© 2023 Shepherd Express. All Rights Reserved.

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• What Is Cinema?

Honor Levy Says She’s “Grown Up and Full of Shame”

By Keziah Weir

Honor Levy, 26, is backlit on a Zoom screen by the midday California sun. A teddy bear is propped behind her. She’s wearing an oversized black T-shirt that, she shows me, reads “Undruggable Unshockable Unstoppable.” She no longer vapes, she says as she leans over to do something “disgusting” with a Lucy nicotine pouch, not quite entirely out of view of her computer camera. This was eons ago. At the beginning of May. The day before Levy, whose Instagram handle is @victim0_o, became the subject of vitriol in a particular corner of the internet.

Before that, she was a child growing up in Los Angeles. She attended Bennington College because she loved Donna Tartt ’s The Secret History , and Bret Easton Ellis, and thought Vermont was one of the most beautiful places she’d ever seen. NY Tyrant published one of her short stories just over a week before her college graduation; The New Yorker published her flash fiction the following July. She tumbled about 190 miles south, into downtown Manhattan’s Dimes Square and the pages of The New York Times .

She amassed a collection of other Instagram handles: @abuser0_o, @survivor0_o, @accuser0_o, @enabler0_o, @martyr0_o, @witness0_o. She had plans to publish a book with Tyrant Books, but then its founder, Giancarlo DiTrapano, died . She converted to Catholicism and was quoted some more, including in this magazine , in which she spoke of her friendliness with New Right frontman Curtis Yarvin and an okay-ness (purely hypothetical) with accepting money from Peter Thiel. She cohosted and then laid to rest a podcast called Wet Brain , on which, for a cumulative 35 hours, she rang up friends and acquaintances; brought up Discord, visiting Roosevelt Island with her dad, and a white supremacist dog whistle; and said things like, “Jesus died for me to have premarital!” Then her agent sold her book to Penguin Press. In 2023, after seven years on the East Coast and one bad breakup, she moved home to LA, into her new boyfriend’s apartment in “the flat part” of Beverly Hills. “It’s 90212,” she says, “so I got to keep grinding.”

Tomorrow, My First Book, her first book, comes out. Which was the reason for the interview in New York magazine’s The Cut, which was the catalyst for the ensuing internet ire. “Very boring for somebody in the NY lit scene to interview their friend about their debut book and write about how they’re the voice of their generation, yet again, because they write in updated-alt-lit-internet-speak,” one person declared; another called it “an accidental hit piece.” ( Brock Colyar, the Cut writer, had blurbed Levy’s book, calling it “brilliant.”) Others did not like that Levy’s mother is a Hollywood makeup artist, though they kind of liked that her father directed a slate of B movies in the 1990s. Someone expressed confusion: Wasn’t she openly racist? Someone said that 26-year-olds shouldn’t write memoirs. (Her only book is a short story collection.)

Many took issue with this paragraph quoted in the New York Times review :

He was giving knight errant, organ-meat eater, Byronic hero, Haplogroup R1b. She was giving damsel in distress, pill-popper pixie dream girl, Haplogroup K. He was in his fall of Rome era. She was serving sixth and final mass extinction realness. His face was a marble statue. Her face was an anime waifu. They scrolled into each other.

Taste is subjective, but this, surely we can agree, is funny, is satire.

Our conversations evoke the discombobulating referential experience of browsing on a social media platform. During our first 90-minute Zoom, she mentions: Kathy Acker, H.P. Lovecraft, Dostoevsky, Stephenie Meyer, Eve Babitz, Dave Chappelle, Joan Didion, Yarvin, Robert Anton Wilson, Roberto Bolaño, Bronze Age Pervert, Cookie Mueller, Norman Mailer, Terence McKenna. The Bloomsbury Group and the Algonquin Round Table. Rookie mag.

She describes her own collection as “a photocopy of a photocopy” and some of its stories as “extremely mediocre,” but that sentiment may be influenced by Dwight Garner ’s review, which she tells me she didn’t read even as she paraphrases what’s in it. She says, of the book, “I wish I could have made it better.”

But when the stories are working well—and they often are—they capture the fractured sense of existing as a body in the physical world, but also as a brain online. They evoke loneliness and confusion. They reveal the gulf between who their characters want to be, how people see them, and who they are.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Vanity Fair: When I was reading the book, I was doing that bad thing of conflating narrators with you, and—

By Katie Nicholl

By Anthony Breznican

By Erin Vanderhoof

Honor Levy: It’s not a bad thing; it’s just the thing now.

But is that something that you are interested in playing with—the persona?

I was in college during the personal-essay boom, or whatever, and I was very into Eve Babitz and Joan Didion, and I wanted to write personal essays that were fake personal. I wanted to make a book of fiction that was all personal essays written by fake people, or faux cultural criticism about culture that doesn’t exist. I still want to do it. [The stories] “Cancel Me” and “Internet Girl,” when I was writing them, I was like, Is this me? And I was like, No, it’s Other Honor. It’s Evil Honor.

I’m so out of the loop on, like, post-autofiction autofiction—sorry that I was a self-centered college student who couldn’t imagine writing as a character different than myself. Also, I was in college when you weren’t supposed to write about things you didn’t know. But now, my next book: narrated by an alien. No. Just kidding.

It is interesting that there was this return to autofiction at a time when there was a heightened anxiety over representing people who are not you. It was the safe thing to do, but at the same time, really not safe. Autofiction is so, so embarrassing. It’s degrading.

Do you feel exposed by this book?

Totally. I think it’s totally obscene. I’m going to go to parties, and people are going to know some of my inner thoughts. But also, writing is performance. It’s not my diary. Even in my diary, which I never kept regularly as a kid, I was always just making shit up. In the few teenage diaries I’ve found in my Notes app or in my parents’ house, I was writing for me to read it later, or for somebody to read it later. Self-mythologizing? Mythopoesis? Automythopoesis?

I read that you used to keep a Google Doc of everything that you had ever read about yourself. Do you still?

No, I can’t. I’m grown up and full of shame. I think I used to be more active in my shame? But now it’s real shame, like, tamp that down. I don’t know what I thought it was for. I thought it was funny. And now I can’t do that because it makes me so sad.

Are you going to read your reviews?

I don’t think I can.

It’s so embarrassing. Everything’s embarrassing, as Sky Ferreira said. I might take them and put them into ChatGPT and be like: Rewrite this review in the voice of RuPaul, using as much gay jargon as possible, for some sort of filter.” Because the New York Times book review just came out, and I was like, I think it’s really bad. But my grandma was like, no, it’s good. And then this other guy was like, no, it’s good. And then my ex-boyfriend was like, you got cooked. He left no crumbs.

You can’t believe ex-boyfriends. Tell me about writing “ Cancel Me ,” a lightly edited version of which appears in the collection.

When I wrote it, I felt like I was saying something sort of new. And now the attitude of the narrator is just the prevailing thing. I liked writing fake personal essays. The Cut, the personal essays in that, they’re so crazy confessional. I like fiction. You don’t have to worry about lying—

The fact-checker [from New York mag] just texted me. I’m scared.

What did they text you?

I don’t know. I’m going to check. This is so meta. Oh my God. Hi. Sorry, one last question. Do you bite your nails? [ Holds phone up to camera ]

But yeah, “Cancel Me”—my boyfriend read it, and he thought it was a personal essay, and he was like, you and I don’t agree on a lot of things. I was like, no, it’s fiction. And I fictionalized one night I…I don’t know. The book is very proud to be cringe. Post-cringe. That story, it makes me recoil.

I just think, in retrospect—I mean, I’m so stupid. I thought reactionary meant just reacting, for years, and now I know it means conservative, or whatever. So I was like, yeah, I’m reactionary! That story, it took real things from my life and then really heightened them. And I think the attitude of the narrator in that is an attitude I had for a certain bit of time, but now, in retrospect, “if you’re not canceled, you don’t exist,” everybody being an edgelord, it’s fucking—it’s annoying me. Everybody knew that Harvey Weinstein was bad for years in Hollywood. I’m from LA; I got some insider knowledge! So I was very, Why are they making that the movement now ? But there are bad people who deserve to be canceled. That story doesn’t take that into account at all. Reading it, I’m like, oh my God, I need to cancel this narrator.

I was listening to a couple episodes of Wet Brain before we chatted. I had not listened before.

Unlistenable. Wet Brain was supposed to be…I guess, be careful what you make fun of. It’s so easy for a parody to just become the thing. Like, the best part of Barbie was Ken. It was supposed to be called—it was too vulgar—Circle Jerk. Or Radio Rome, Ezra Pound’s original “Deep Right.” It was supposed to be a performance art thing. And then the mask eats the face, or whatever. It’s all very embarrassing.

Does it help you in your writing to be out of the New York fray?

It definitely helped mentally. I stopped doing a ton of drugs. There was a time in June of 2021 when all the worlds collided and the vibe did shift. I can’t tell you exactly what that means, but there was an electric moment. In New York right now, and in colleges across America, it’s giving historic; it’s giving May 1968. It’s feeling, I am part of something. In LA, I feel like I’m part of nothing. And I always felt like I was part of nothing, as a teenager. That’s why I was obsessed with scenes and having been part of a scene.

Have you read Big Magic by Elizabeth Gilbert ? I love it, and it talks a lot about how you are not the writer. It’s something flowing through you. In New York, or even in college, when I was writing, I felt like I was channeling something, some culture, I was just a filter for a bunch of ideas. Now, I guess, it’s growing up, getting older, and trying to write real third-person fiction that takes place on a different planet. I want to be able to channel things and black out in the booth…holding a collection that I’ve written in my hands. I'm like [ does a robot voice ], I am the writer. I am not the Oracle of Delphi; it is me. [Goes back to Levy the human] I need to know what the hell I’m talking about. I’m old too. Not old. I’m older than…

How old are you?

Twenty-six. My grandma, by 26, she had three kids. There’s that thing: My parents at 30: Let’s buy a house, let’s get married. Me at 30: Chicken nugget.

You were quoted in an article on a resurgence of Catholicism in New York—

I didn’t fully read that. It was just so mortifying. “Is Catholicism the hot new trend in New York?” Sorry that my friends and I go to the same church. The New York Times, they’re reporting on tiny things that are making a thing into a thing. And I love that—mythmaking. And I love that the media has that power, but at the same time, what are you going to gain from it? I didn’t read that, and then I guess I was quoted in it, what I said in a podcast. It’s so embarrassing because it didn’t really feel true at all. But it is true. Catholicism kind of is the hot new trend, and it makes total sense that it would be. And now Islam is the hot new trend that a lot of kids are getting into.

If they had asked me for a quote, I think I would’ve said yes. But I also think I would’ve said no. Dave Chappelle, he’s Muslim, but he said he doesn’t speak about it in his comedy or in media because it’s such a beautiful and personal thing that he doesn’t want to tarnish it. I think that’s so beautiful. But the thing about being Christian is: Have you heard the good news? If I wanted to be part of a cool club, I would be Mormon, because all the influencers are Mormon. I mean, it’s not true—that’s the problem. Tolstoy, he writes about Mormonism and also about Islam, and I love the way that he writes about religion.

I was interested in your quote about doing something, ritualizing something, and then the ritual creates the meaning.

That’s exactly what Tolstoy said. I just stole that from him.

Do you imagine a career arc? You were into Bret Easton Ellis, into the Bennington thing, so you went to Bennington. You loved Tyrant; you became a part of that scene. What’s on your horizon?

I feel like I’m not as young and hungry as I should be, and I have to cement what I want next because I’m very, very lucky and have been presented with so many opportunities that I’ve squandered. Squandered ! That’s such a good word.

What have you squandered?

Opportunities to be in magazines, to be part of lists, to be part of anthologies, to be written about, to write for things. My favorite writer, and also a life that I love: Norman Mailer. His book Armies of the Night . The novel as history, history as novel. I don’t think I’ll ever be Norman Mailer because, I mean, he wrote The Naked and the Dead when he was younger than me. He went to Harvard. He went to war.

The next thing that I really want, that I am trying to manifest for myself, is to be married and have children. But at the same time, making children is not the same thing as making art. I think I conflate the things.

That’s a line in your book.

The original line was: “Not everyone should have a book. Not everyone should have a baby, but anyone can.” And I switched it to: “Everyone should have a book. Everyone should have a baby if they want to. ” Obviously, what, no abortions, and everyone has to write well, and you have to be 17? Evil.

The next thing I would really like to write is, like, a young adult novel.

That’s what you’re working on?

Yeah. Something that feels like The Sopranos or Dostoevsky, a lot of characters over a lot of time. Create a world that I can escape into. I think it’s easier in LA because I have less of a social life. I would love to write a tabletop role-play game to go along with it. My dream is to write a video game. I would love, career-wise, to just write and create a ton of different things.

To make money in the art world, you make the same painting over and over again. And I would like to avoid doing that because I don’t even think I could ever write my first book again. Obviously, this is My First Book, which is the worst title ever. I wish that wasn’t the title.

What’s the alternate title in your brain?

Brat by Gabriel Smith and Sean Thor Conroe ’s Fuccboi , we were all supposed to be published in Gian DiTrapano’s thing that he was trying to start. So to be part of that spiritual trilogy, mine would be—and I still might write it; a sort of first-person, young-bad-girl-in-the-world book— Pick Me, I think.

When Gian died, people were saying, this set literature back 20 years. And I think it has, and I will always be haunted by what could have been. But I think he would’ve been happy that our books got picked up by editors that respect and love him.

[Five days after The Cut published the “Encounter,” we spoke again.]

We got meta during our first call and talked about fact-checking; now we have to talk about the piece coming out and its garnering a lot of Twitter space.

I definitely didn’t expect it, and I truthfully have not read the whole article, but I understand that it was the conversation topic of the day. My friends were texting me, “Are you okay?” I didn’t even know. I hadn’t been on Twitter yet. It was very trippy because even the posts that didn’t have my name, I was like, This is about me. This is what crazy people must feel like.

Has anything similar happened to you before?

No. Probably won’t again. It was my 15 minutes. Everybody’s riled up right now, and if you can’t be fighting for justice, or whatever, you’re going to fight against whatever the injustice of the day is.

When there’s an article and a bunch of people react saying, “Why was this article written? This is so stupid, blah, blah, blah. I don’t want to hear about one more boring, rich white girl”—it’s like, well, don’t link to the article. Don’t react to the article if you want them to stop writing articles about this.

Do you have any regrets about your public persona, about quotes you’ve given?

I do care, but if I started actively caring and filtering myself, I wouldn’t be able to do anything at all.

When we spoke last, you said that you identified as a reactionary without knowing that it meant conservative.

I’m definitely not. Say, hypothetically—which I’m not; I'm a registered Democrat—but say I was a Republican. Is that a really bad thing for a writer to be a Republican? I’m just confused. I don’t think being a Democrat or Republican is an identity. I don’t think wrapping up personality into politics, just for voting in America—if you're a freedom fighter, or some sort of radical, then your personality can be more wrapped up in things, but being a Democrat or Republican, that’s not a personality; that’s just a political party that should not be a big part of your life. Neither party’s your friend.

I’ve been trying to parse what people were most offended by.

If you’re offended by something, it’s not the same as being hurt. Racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, a lot of times it is offensive and hurtful. People were like, “Why should this girl be platformed?” They weren’t hurt. They were like, “She shouldn't have a platform.” That’s totally fair.

I was talking to people, they’re like, “Oh, you can say your book critiques performative politics and values and stuff,” and I’m like, Look. At the time when that was written, I thought virtue signaling and performative politics were a thing, but now I think that’s very different. Performing in a protest—where you are saying, I see an injustice—that's performance and that’s virtue signaling, but—I can’t say that I’m critiquing that, because I’m not.

The protests have come up a few times. It feels like you’re thinking about it in a specific way, but I can’t really figure out what exactly you’re thinking about them.

I’m thinking, This is the youth. I’m thinking about the history of protests, and Kent State, and May 1968. It’s the next thing in that lineage, and it’s interesting. I’m not talking about the core of the moral issue. I’m talking about the American reaction and protest. The youth mobilized. Do I need to give a statement?

Do you want to give a statement?

No, no. I don’t have any. I don’t know. No, no, no. Wait, this is crazy. I have not…I guess it takes a lot of voices. Yeah, of course there should be a ceasefire. Of course I don’t think America should be funding—oh my God, I shouldn’t be saying this, but it’s a horrible and complicated thing.

Okay, the last time we talked—

Oh my gosh, are you going to put all that in there? Because it’s not interesting, what I’m saying. I’m saying nothing. I am removed enough from all of it that luckily, I can just say this is terrible. Oh my God, I feel horrible. That was the most offensive and hurtful thing I’ve ever said to a journalist. Because it’s a very sad thing happening, and I’m not helping by talking about it right now, in this way.

If I say something wrong, I keep talking about that same thing, saying more and more wrong things. I think I’m going to have a breakthrough and correct it. That’s the great thing about writing. When you’re on the page, you can keep saying the wrong thing, the wrong thing, the wrong thing. You’re trying to say what you mean, and you are going to say it in a million wrong ways until finally you find the right words, and then you can go and delete, or transfer to your Notes app, but you can’t do that while talking.

My editor wants me to ask you who you’re voting for in the election.

I’m definitely not voting for Trump. I don’t think I’m voting for Trump or Biden.

Macklemore ’s not voting for Biden. I’m doing it because Macklemore said so. No, I just don’t–I’ll vote in my local election. I’ll read up on the props and stuff, but I am a California-registered Democrat. It’s going to be a blue state anyways.

That’s not to say that votes don’t matter or whatever. It’s not to say that Democrats—I guess it’s kind of an interesting question, but I don’t have an interesting answer. Like, if I was voting for Trump or Biden, what…

Politics can serve as kind of a shorthand for understanding, or at least believing that one understands, something about somebody else. In the same way that asking where someone’s from is shorthand. If you ask someone if they vote for Trump or Biden, you do learn something from the answer. It might not be all of everything, but it is something.

I never even met a Republican until I was, like, 18! Maybe I should just say I’m voting for Trump and get more attention. No, I’m just kidding.

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Behind the Scenes of a Short-Lived Broadway Musical

By Rachel Syme

At Joe Allen, a restaurant on Forty-sixth Street where denizens of the theatre world have been convening for nearly six decades, the walls are lined with posters of Broadway’s legendary duds. In the early days, for a show to make the display, it had to close in less than a week. Qualifying flops included such productions as “Drat! The Cat!,” a sex farce about a Victorian cat burglar (eight performances), and “Via Galactica,” a seventies rock opera about a trash collector who lives on an asteroid (seven performances). Joe Allen specializes in comfort food—burgers, banana cream pie—and there is something oddly comforting, too, about its morbid choice of décor. No single misfire stands alone; failure is its own kind of rite of passage, to be commemorated along with success. The first poster that the restaurant ever hung, in 1965, was for “Kelly,” about a man who jumps off the Brooklyn Bridge and survives. The show was such a fiasco that the writers sued the producers even before it premièred; it opened and closed on the same day.

Not all unsuccessful shows, however, are spectacular implosions or paragons of bad taste. There is another, more common, type of Broadway misfire that is less dramatic but perhaps more disappointing—a production that has many things going for it, with a closely collaborative team working furiously until the last moment, never losing faith that it will find an audience. Instead of crashing and burning, it opens and sputters. Some diehard fans adore it, but it becomes apparent—after the first reviews appear and then, more clearly, after the Tony nominations—that the show cannot sustain itself. Maybe it was bad timing. Maybe it was bad advertising. Maybe it was the whims of the marketplace. Maybe, if the show had only had a few more weeks of rehearsals, its admirable but unhoned elements might have slid into place.

“Lempicka,” which opened on Broadway on April 14th and closed on May 19th, after forty-one performances, was one of that type. Created by the playwright Carson Kreitzer and the composer Matt Gould, both Broadway first-timers, it opened during one of the most crowded theatre seasons in recent memory, among adaptations of popular I.P. (“Back to the Future,” “The Notebook”), jukebox musicals (“Hell’s Kitchen”), and splashy revivals (“Cabaret”; “Merrily We Roll Along,” a onetime Stephen Sondheim flop turned posthumous Broadway hit). “Lempicka” was one of an increasingly rare species in Times Square—a work conceived entirely from scratch. A propulsive, poppy “bio-musical” in the tradition of “Evita,” it chronicled the life story of Tamara de Lempicka, a bisexual Art Deco painter who was famous in her heyday, in nineteen-twenties Paris, but who subsequently fell into obscurity. That it got to Broadway at all was due in significant part to the reputation of its director, the forty-three-year-old Tony winner Rachel Chavkin, who with two previous musicals—“Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812” and “Hadestown”—had established a track record of turning offbeat projects into hits on the Broadway stage.

Chavkin is by her own description a “devourer of outside information,” including feedback about her work. In the weeks before a show’s première, she invites friends and former collaborators to see it and asks them to text her “one good thing and one bad thing.” She told me, “I am trying to always be listening to where my own taste comes into contact with the room’s taste. An audience is so good at teaching you, What’s this moment about ?”

The night of “Lempicka” ’s “final dress”—the first performance before an audience—Chavkin was standing near the stage door of the Longacre Theatre, wearing an oversized patchwork coat. She has a decidedly Gen X sense of personal style (baggy flannel shirts, combat boots, chunky black glasses) and most days pulls her long brown hair into a girlish style: pigtail buns, Heidi braids. She is rarely without a giant backpack full of scripts, reference books, a battered Nalgene bottle, Tupperware tubs of leftovers, and an iPad featuring a sticker that reads “You Are on Native Land.” In conversation, her favorite words include “fuck” and “yummy,” an adjective she uses to describe a particularly satisfying idea or dramatic moment.

“Lempicka” was about to begin a month of previews, when the show would be open to the general public but not yet officially “locked” for reviewers. Chavkin said that this is “when the real work begins,” as the clock starts ticking down to opening night. She is not someone who gets easily stressed. At a recent checkup, the doctor told her that she had the blood pressure of a twelve-year-old. Her husband, Jake Heinrichs, a theatrical-lighting supervisor, said that, even during intensive work periods, “Rachel always falls asleep in five minutes.” But she’d experienced a moment of anxiety after the first full run-through, two nights before. “I came home and was, like, ‘It’s a mess, it’s a mess!’ ” she said. Heinrichs had handed her a beer and told her, reassuringly, “Remember, it’s just a play .”

Outside the theatre, an old colleague of Chavkin’s, a costume designer who goes by Machine Dazzle, approached, wearing a rainbow-colored sweater.

“Machine!” Chavkin called out. Chavkin’s professional roots are in the weirder reaches of the downtown theatre scene. She and Dazzle had worked together years before, on a five-hour theatre piece written by and starring the avant-garde performance artist Taylor Mac.

“You have to send me one bad thing and one good thing,” Chavkin said.

“I’ll send you two good things and two bad things!” Dazzle said.

Chavkin glanced across the street at the marquee of the Walter Kerr Theatre. For the past five years, the Kerr has been home to “Hadestown,” Chavkin’s biggest commercial success. The show, a retelling of the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice written by the singer-songwriter Anaïs Mitchell, often plays to sold-out Broadway audiences, and has spawned both a West End production and an ongoing U.S. tour. “Lempicka” ’s publicists had orchestrated a publicity stunt for later in the week to capitalize on her shows’ proximity: in front of the two theatres, the city would hold a ceremony to temporarily rechristen the street Chavkin Way.

“Hadestown” arrived on Broadway shortly after a run in London, where, as Chavkin put it, “the show really became itself.” “Lempicka” had a more halting trajectory. In 2017, Chavkin had planned to stage a revival of a different bio-musical about an artist, the Sondheim classic “Sunday in the Park with George,” about the Pointillist painter Georges Seurat, at the Williamstown Theatre Festival. But then she found out that another version, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was on its way to Broadway. Years before, she’d met Gould and Kreitzer when they were developing “Lempicka” at the Yale Repertory Theatre. Now she called them and proposed taking it to Williamstown. “I was, like, ‘Hi, remember me?’ ” she said. The Williamstown production, in 2018, got a warm review in the Times from Ben Brantley, who called Chavkin a “miracle worker,” and the producers scheduled a pre-Broadway run in California. Then the plan was disrupted by the pandemic. When “Lempicka” finally made it to the La Jolla Playhouse, in 2022, reviews were mixed. A critic at the Times of San Diego wrote that “the show could use more revising, condensing—and heart.” The version coming to Broadway—with a generous $19.2 million capitalization—would be shorter, with retooled choreography and a brand-new set.

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Chavkin is unshy about asking what she calls “earthquake questions” about a project, even late in the development process. She often notes that a theatre director’s capacity for problem-solving rests in part on a simple equation: “Time equals the number of choices you get to make.” If there’s time left, then one can still change one’s mind, rethink, correct course. She told me, “It’s not magic how something looks onstage. Someone—a lot of people, actually—made a fuckin’ series of choices, that were based on a million bad choices that then got slightly better.”

Before becoming a Broadway director, Chavkin had what she describes as “zero relationship to Broadway.” She grew up in Silver Spring, Maryland, as the only child of two prominent civil-rights lawyers. The culture in the household was intense, intellectual, and obsessed with social justice. “When I was very, very young, I was taught that Ronald Reagan was stealing food from poor children,” Chavkin told me. Her parents waged long legal battles over children’s welfare and health-care access and instilled in Chavkin the value of professional grit. (Her mother, Sara Rosenbaum, recalls advising her daughter, “If you can’t do the fight anymore, you shouldn’t be in it. It should never feel old or dispassionate.”) They also gave Chavkin an early introduction to sophisticated art. She recalled one performance of Bertolt Brecht’s “Threepenny Opera” at the National Theatre: the ballad singer “came out and was showering spit all over the audience. I can remember being just magnetized—the wet and the chaos and the organicness.”

For six summers, beginning in middle school, Chavkin attended Stagedoor Manor, a sleepaway theatre camp in the Catskills, whose notable alumni include Lea Michele, Beanie Feldstein, and Ben Platt. (“I still have mixed feelings about it, because it cost so much money and was such a status game,” Chavkin told me, of the camp. “It is also probably the reason I do what I do today.”) But she was more of a brooding stoner than a show-tunes-obsessed theatre kid, and she was wary of art that she perceived as inauthentic. After high school, she enrolled at the Playwrights Horizons Theatre School, an interdisciplinary wing of N.Y.U.’s Tisch School of the Arts. Her favorite class there was an ungraded seminar called Creating Original Work, taught by the modern dancer and choreographer Marleen Pennison, which had only one assignment: to be “interesting alone onstage for ten minutes.” Chavkin became so addicted to the challenge that she took the course three semesters in a row, crafting “hilariously ambitious” pieces such as a character study inspired by a line from the Great Depression tome “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.” Her idols were experimental theatre companies like the Wooster Group; she considered most Broadway “cheesy.” She told me, “I didn’t want to think about plays that had already been written. I wanted to think about big ideas .”

Playwrights Horizons emphasized the collaborative aspects of theatre-making. After college, while Chavkin was in graduate school for directing, at Columbia, she and five friends from N.Y.U. co-founded a theatre company, the TEAM , with a staunchly anti-hierarchical, consensus-driven process, such that no work could be credited to a single author. Her friend and fellow Playwrights alumnus Jay Sterkel recalled that from early on Chavkin “saw herself as the manager of the people, the keeper of the story. She specifically wanted to occupy that role.” He added, “This group began to coalesce that was like the Rachel Chavkin Players.” But Chavkin took issue with this characterization, which has been a lasting source of tension within the company, she said. She always considered herself an equal in the creative process, she told me, even if, as a director, she was perceived as having a certain “positional power.” (Perhaps tellingly, the name the TEAM —the Theatre of the Emerging American Moment—was both a nod to the group’s collective mind-set and a reference to a college nickname for Chavkin, who liked to wear an old T-shirt from a family fun run that read “Team Chavkin.”) The TEAM ’s pieces featured a gleeful cascade of pop-culture references, historical research, and heady tangents about political and social issues: reality TV, teen pregnancy. In 2005, the group brought two shows to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and won an award for up-and-coming companies; they earned the same prize again in 2006 and 2008. The British stage director John Tiffany recalled, “It was so different to any other theatre that I saw coming out of New York. It felt almost more connected to indie filmmaking.”

Chavkin also began collaborating with artists outside the TEAM , including Dave Malloy, the writer and composer of “Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812.” That musical, based on an excerpt of “War and Peace,” was an immersive “electropop opera” about a naïve socialite (Natasha) and a lonely intellectual (Pierre, originally played by Malloy) in nineteenth-century Moscow on the eve of a looming astronomical event. For the show’s first staging, at the nonprofit theatre Ars Nova, in 2012, Chavkin and her creative team transformed the tiny venue into a Russian night club, with the walls swathed in red velvet and audience members seated at café tables; as the story unfolded, the performers whirled through the crowd delivering bottles of vodka and plates of pierogi. “Comet” became a cult phenomenon and attracted a group of ambitious producers. In 2013, to scale up the production without losing its communal atmosphere, they paid to put up a giant tent to house two runs in vacant Manhattan lots. When “Comet” finally reached Broadway, in 2016, Chavkin and her team retained an unusual degree of rowdy interactivity, in part by seating more than a hundred audience members on the stage.

The director Brian Kulick, one of Chavkin’s mentors at Columbia, told me that there are “forest directors and tree directors”—big-picture people and detail people—and that when he first met Chavkin she was “the best tree director I had ever met. So detailed, so specific, so alive.” She tends to create her most showstopping moments through what she calls “simple gestures.” At the end of “Comet,” a forlorn Pierre (originally played on Broadway by Josh Groban) takes a slow walk on a winter’s night, singing in a single beam of light. But soon the ensemble members, who have scattered throughout the theatre in the dark, begin a chorale underneath his words, and Pierre looks heavenward as a huge, Sputnik-inspired chandelier—the titular great comet—starts to glow, brighter and brighter, until the entire theatre is illuminated. Every member of both the cast and the audience gazes up, too, creating a startling sense of communion between performer and viewer. The director Lear deBessonet told me, “When I go to see one of Rachel’s pieces, I know that I’m going to feel electricity in my body, during these moments of liftoff.” Charles Isherwood, in the Times , called “Comet” “the most innovative and the best new musical to open on Broadway since ‘Hamilton,’ ” and added, with a “heresy alert,” that of the two he preferred “Comet.” The show earned twelve Tony nominations, the most for any production that season, including one for Best Direction. Chavkin said, “We felt like these kids storming the castle.”

For better or worse, the Broadway musical is a genre that favors legibility. Both “Comet” and “Hadestown” feature opening numbers that introduce the cast of characters one by one. (“Gonna have to study up a little bit if you want to keep with the plot,” the “Comet” ensemble sings.) During the first week of “Lempicka” previews, Chavkin told me, of its opening scene, “We’ve heard from people who are kind of confused.” Tamara de Lempicka’s life spanned nearly the entire twentieth century. A half-Jewish upper-class Polish woman, she married into a wealthy Christian family, survived the Bolshevik Revolution, went on to make her name in Paris, painting sensual but hard-edged nudes of women, and then fled the Nazi occupation for Los Angeles, where she lived well into old age. The heart of “Lempicka” was a bisexual love triangle between Tamara; her husband, Tadeusz; and a fictionalized prostitute named Rafaela, based on one of Lempicka’s regular portrait subjects. The opening number churned through years of backstory in less than ten minutes: Tamara marries Tadeusz and has a baby in tsarist Russia, and Tadeusz is arrested during the 1917 Revolution. After Tamara barters her jewels (and, eventually, her body) for Tadeusz’s freedom, the pair decide to flee together to France. To aid the audience on this hectic sprint through history, the show relied on explanatory text projections: “Russia, 1916”; “Night train to Paris.”

There’d been a back-and-forth about whether to slow down the action by including a prologue in which Tamara sits on a park bench in old age and outlines her past. Chavkin had cut the scene in rehearsals, preferring to toss audiences directly into the maelstrom. Now, at the request of Kreitzer, the playwright, a soft-spoken woman with purple hair, Chavkin was considering putting the scene back in, but with a new song—actually an old one, from the La Jolla production. A few days into previews, she texted me, “Girl, we’re totally gonna put back in the old lady top of the show.”

The next Monday, with three weeks to go before the première, Chavkin was at the theatre for a “massive day” of implementing the changes. The auditorium, full of tech equipment, had the look of a NASA control room; by night, it would be cleared out to accommodate audiences. Chavkin was calmly sitting in the center of it all on a “butt board,” a long cushion that lies on top of the theatre seats (“the only way to get through tech,” she said), but she’s an energetic physical presence on set, regularly leaping up to demonstrate her staging ideas. Another day, I saw her take a running jump onto a wooden platform to act out a transition she had in mind, only to trip and fall. Without missing a beat, she laughed and told the performers, “Don’t do that.”

Among Chavkin’s challenges with the opening was a matter of audience allegiances: Tamara’s story invited the audience to root for the aristocrats over the revolutionaries. “Some friends said they weren’t quite sure whose perspective we’re watching,” Chavkin told me. “Obviously, I, for one, really feel for the Bolsheviks, but it’s not their story, and if you don’t know firmly whose story to be oriented toward then the opening is not doing its job.” The prologue wouldn’t exactly resolve the awkward class politics, and it had a whiff of the overfamiliar (the old lady from “Titanic,” the bench scene from “Forrest Gump”), but it would at least help center Tamara in the tale.

Onstage, Eden Espinosa, the forty-six-year-old actor playing Tamara, was sitting on the hotly debated park bench, clutching a cane and wearing a wide-brimmed hat. On a scrim behind her were hazy palm trees and the words “Los Angeles, 1975.” The costume designer, Paloma Young, and two associates fiddled with Espinosa’s satin swing coat. To finesse the transition from the new first scene to the old first scene, Chavkin wanted to execute a dramatic onstage costume change that involved stripping off Tamara’s old-lady outfit onstage to reveal a wedding gown beneath. Chavkin asked, via the “God mike”—a handheld microphone used to communicate with the stage—if they were ready to carry out the quick transformation. “Oh, yeah!” Young said, flashing a thumbs-up.

The new-old number was a wistful song, laced with bitterness. Tamara may look like an “old, eccentric bat,” but she was once an art-world star who “painted what a woman could be.” Chavkin grinned when Espinosa got to the lyric “History’s a bitch, but so am I!” She told me, “I’m so glad we got it back in, because I want it to be on all the merch. Can’t you just see it on a mug?” The existing merchandise featured a minimalist outline of Lempicka’s face. “It is so conservative! ” Chavkin said. “They should be selling fucking garter belts that say ‘Lempicka’ on them.” A tagline that the marketing team was using to promote the show was so broad as to be opaque: “All she ever wanted was everything.”

Owing to union rules, rehearsal had to wrap at four-thirty. Chavkin sang a little ditty to herself: “There’s never enough tiiime .” Espinosa looked weary. “Lempicka,” which she’d joined early in its development, was her first Broadway role in more than a decade and was, as Chavkin put it, “fucking unforgiving.” Espinosa had to sing big and belty in nearly every scene. Now, after rehearsing some new choreography with the whole cast, she walked to the front of the stage shaking her head. “I’m sorry,” she said, softly. “But this is a lot , because everyone’s on different beats, and on different words.”

Chavkin nodded warmly, taking this in. “Ensemble, how are you feeling?” she asked over the mike. One chorus member suggested that just the dancers do the new steps for the next performance, and Chavkin seemed pleased by the temporary solution.

With five minutes left, the stage manager asked if she wanted to run the number one more time. “Yeah, baby!” Chavkin said, triumphantly kicking out one leg. As others were flagging, she seemed to be gaining steam. A few days later, she texted me that they were pulling the opening scene apart all over again.

When I first met Chavkin, in 2019, “Hadestown” had just won eight Tonys, including Best Direction of a Musical, and Chavkin had become something of a theatre-world cause célèbre after using her acceptance speech to point out that no other Broadway musical that season had been directed by a woman. (“This is not a pipeline issue,” she said. “It is a failure of imagination.”) Like “Comet,” “Hadestown” managed to maintain the scrappy feel of downtown theatre in an uptown space. Anaïs Mitchell’s poetic score, which was previously released as a folk concept album, is far earthier than standard Broadway fare; the boisterous band plays directly onstage. The show opens with the narrator, the messenger god Hermes, initiating a call-and-response with the audience to invoke a myth-making space: “All right?” “All right!” (Chavkin said, “I generally don’t believe in the fourth wall.”) The playwright Bess Wohl, one of Chavkin’s regular collaborators, told me, “I so often see women directors’ work being compared to the theatrical equivalent of needlepoint—small and delicate.” Chavkin, she went on, favors the “brash and huge and messy.”

In one conversation, Chavkin mentioned that Guggenheim fellowships are not awarded to theatre directors, on the ground that their work is to interpret, not generate. “Interpretive art is generative,” she said, adding, “You change the meaning of something depending on how you deliver it.” Still, directors, like editors of written stories, must work with the raw material they’re given, and the raw material of “Lempicka” was in some ways an unnatural match for Chavkin. Structurally and sonically, the musical hewed to Broadway convention. Gould, the composer, told me that he wrote the score in the spirit of sprawling eighties blockbuster musicals. “I’ve been calling this show ‘ Lez Miz,’ ” he joked. The set, designed by Riccardo Hernández, was sleek and mechanical, with what Chavkin calls “whizbangs,” including fly-in triangular screens and an Eiffel Toweresque jungle gym of light-up staircases. Chavkin, however, told me that she saw the production’s traditional elements as “drag,” under cover of which to “smuggle a nuanced, queer narrative onto Broadway.”

“Lempicka” places itself in dialogue with “Sunday in the Park with George”—“Woman is plane, color, light,” Tamara sings, echoing Sondheim’s famous song “Color and Light.” But the two musicals take very different approaches to the art at their center. “Sunday,” cerebral and meticulous, makes a case for Seurat’s rigorous and somewhat chilly compositions; the subject and the form of the show align, bringing, as Sondheim puts it in George’s first song, “order to the whole.” In “Lempicka,” the art and the animating ideas are at odds. The women in Tamara’s portraits look inscrutable and machinelike, as if they’ve been slicked over by a Zamboni. Her mantra in the show is “Never let them see your brushstrokes,” a principle that she applies both to her paintings and to her personal life. But the story’s goal is to expose a crosshatching of experiences beneath the varnish—aging, trauma, persecution, dislocation. Living honestly, the musical ultimately argues, means letting one’s brushstrokes show. Chavkin told me, “Mess is queerness. Mess is anti-establishment. Mess is truth.”

Perhaps accordingly, the musical favored a clash of visual styles that sometimes left the production feeling disjointed and overstuffed. The choreography, by Raja Feather Kelly, leaned on references to Madonna, who is a collector of Lempicka’s art and projects her paintings during arena concerts. Ensemble members in cone bustiers vogued across the stage. A synth-heavy number about futurism was wildly entertaining but felt ported in from a Depeche Mode music video. My favorite parts of the production traded such winking anachronisms for louche prewar glamour. In one stand-out scene, Tamara and Rafaela visit a clandestine lesbian bar and lounge among tuxedoed women. A pink velvet banquette emerges out of a clamshell-shaped trapdoor that Chavkin described as a “vagina in the floor.” As “Comet” had done with a sliver of “War and Peace,” the scene made its esoteric particulars feel wholly enveloping.

Chavkin is not usually inclined toward sentimental story lines. “Unsentimentality is the real beauty,” she told me. But “Lempicka” promised to be, among everything else, a big, tragic romance. Throughout the development process, Chavkin and her team struggled to build an emotional armature that could support Tamara’s two competing love stories. A triangle needs three strong sides, and it was hard to believe that Tadeusz, who is jobless and adrift in Paris, could hold Tamara’s affection as powerfully as the charismatic Rafaela, played by the scene-stealing alto Amber Iman. They’d tried to make Tadeusz more appealing, removing a scene of him striking Tamara and adding dialogue in which he admits he’s been “a bit of a shit” about her painting career. One day, during rehearsals, Andrew Samonsky, the actor playing Tadeusz, told Chavkin, “I’m feeling a bit lost, just because of all the versions. I’m trying to calibrate who he is.” Chavkin came up with the idea of having Tadeusz don a three-piece suit as he sang his solo number—“putting on armor,” she called it.

A few days before the première, Chavkin and I spoke by phone. She seemed to be anticipating, perhaps a bit defensively, all the reasons that critics might dismiss “Lempicka” out of hand—“ ‘Too big.’ ‘Another bio-pic.’ ‘Too queer.’ ” She added, “I think the show is quite profound, and there’s the terror of, Will that be seen? Will it be seen for the wonder that I think it is?”

Chavkin and Heinrichs bought a two-bedroom apartment in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, seventeen years ago, when they earned less than sixty thousand dollars a year combined. They still live there today, although the commute to Times Square is long, and as a Broadway director she is now well compensated. (For the sake of pay transparency, she told me that the year “Hadestown” opened and became a hit she made more than eight hundred thousand dollars. “I want this to be very much on the record,” she told me, “because no one talks enough about money.”) When I went over to her apartment for dinner one night in February, she pulled a tub of soup out of the fridge and asked me to sniff it to make sure it “hadn’t gone funky,” then tasked me with heating it up in the microwave. In the dining room, Chavkin’s Tony Award for “Hadestown” was wedged on the cluttered top of a tall wooden cabinet. A spindly chandelier—one of a number of smaller lights used on the set of “Comet”—hovered elegantly, but the table beneath was nearly invisible under a sea of papers and books. Rather than try to make space, Chavkin asked if I would mind sitting on the living-room floor.

Chavkin conducts her personal life with the same collaborative ethos that she brings to the theatre. In 2019, she agreed to serve as a surrogate for her best friends, a gay artist couple who live in Texas. At the time, she and Heinrichs were leaning toward not having children, in part because Heinrichs’s father died of hereditary Alzheimer’s. In an essay for Vogue , she recalled that getting pregnant involved some “ferrying of sperm-filled syringes around my flat” during the London run of “Hadestown.” When the baby was born—also on Chavkin’s floor—the daddies, as she calls them, temporarily relocated to an apartment upstairs that Chavkin rents. They moved back to Texas a year later, and Chavkin realized that she wanted a child of her own. She and Heinrichs had a son, Sam, in 2021, and she considers the children long-distance family. Heinrichs’s sister, Liz, now lives in the upstairs apartment and helps to care for Sam, an arrangement that allows Chavkin to work marathon rehearsal days and late nights at the theatre. “It all sounds complicated, but it really isn’t,” Chavkin told me. “Or maybe it is just the kind of complicated that I like.”

“Lempicka” is not Chavkin’s first Broadway production to meet a difficult end. “Comet” struggled to sustain itself commercially despite its critical acclaim. The cast was among the largest on Broadway at the time, and the show was expensive to maintain. After the better part of a year, Josh Groban left the cast and sales plummeted. In July of 2017, the “Hamilton” alum Okieriete Onaodowan assumed the role of Pierre, but the producers cut his run short to allow the veteran theatre actor Mandy Patinkin to do a special engagement, hoping that his star power would revive sales. Instead, the change caused a scandal when an organization called Broadway Black criticized the decision, prompting a wave of social-media outrage, and Patinkin promptly backed out. Weathering what Chavkin called a “shitstorm” of bad publicity, “Comet” abruptly announced a closing date.

Chavkin has learned, in other public ways, that the hazards of working in the commercial theatre are political as well as artistic. She is known for casting diversely and for recruiting new talent, but she has also faced complaints about workplace equity. During the reckonings of summer, 2020, a Black costume designer who’d worked on “Lempicka” in Williamstown but wasn’t kept on posted an Instagram video (later deleted) alleging unfair treatment. Chavkin publicly apologized, and afterward hired an “anti-oppressionist” leadership coach with whom she continues to work. (Last year, a performer from “Hadestown” sued the production for racial discrimination and retaliation. The racial-discrimination claims were dismissed on First Amendment grounds, but the retaliation claims are still pending.) Amber Gray, a mixed-race actress and TEAM member who played the original Persephone in Chavkin’s “Hadestown,” told me that her relationship with Chavkin has grown strained over time owing to issues of compensation. As the director, Chavkin receives royalties; as an actor, Gray does not. Chavkin told me that she plans to share her royalties with the show’s original Broadway leads, but that she has faced bureaucratic hurdles in doing so. Gray said, “I think some of her morals and ethics—there’s not space for them in those commercial machines.” Still, she gave Chavkin credit for trying to put her ideals into practice in a “yucky, antiquated” system. “Commercial theatre is not about camaraderie. It’s not about the art. It is about making money,” Gray said, adding, “That eats people alive.”

There are feast and famine years on Broadway. The glut of new productions this season—thirty-nine, including twenty-one musicals—belies the fact that audiences’ appetite for the theatre has yet to recover from the pandemic; as of March, Broadway attendance is down seventeen per cent from pre- Covid levels. According to Forbes , only about a quarter of Broadway shows become commercial hits even in a good year. Jack Viertel, a theatre producer and the author of “The Secret Life of the American Musical,” told me that, given the competitive current conditions, “Lempicka,” lacking instant name recognition or celebrity stunt casting, “couldn’t have opened at a worse time.” From the first week of previews, its financial outlook was dire. Tickets were priced modestly, and, though the theatre was mostly full each night, it was bringing in only in the ballpark of four hundred thousand dollars a week, nowhere near what it needed to recoup its costs. The show badly needed the buy-in of critics, or a sudden surge in word-of-mouth fandom.

On opening night, April 14th, Chavkin walked the red carpet wearing silk Rachel Comey pants in the same shade of emerald as Lempicka used in her self-portrait “Tamara in the Green Bugatti.” There was an after-party at the ritzy Metropolitan Club, which was “fun, until it was less fun,” Chavkin told me. Reviews had started to appear shortly after curtain call. Jesse Green, of the Times , praised Espinosa and Iman’s vocal acrobatics but likened the Bolsheviks scene to “an anemic ‘Les Miz’ ” and wrote that the show lacked “subtlety, complexity and historical precision.” (The review’s headline twisted the knife: “ It’s No Sunday in the Park with ‘Lempicka .’ ”) Sara Holdren, of New York , a former theatre director herself, wrote, “The show pushes and poses—it doesn’t let us in.” Chavkin said that she spent the end of the after-party sitting with Gould, going “down the spiral.” Dave Malloy and Anaïs Mitchell were there, and they attempted to cheer Chavkin up by belting “Thunder Road” with her on the building’s marble steps. By the next week, the fate of “Lempicka” was uncertain. Chavkin told me, “Now I just live with a low-level sense of doom.” She was quick to note that, if “Lempicka” closed, the worst effects would be felt among the cast and crew, who would suddenly be out of a job. Her next directing project, a musical adaptation of “The Great Gatsby,” with a score co-written by the British rock star Florence Welch, had already started rehearsals for an out-of-town première in Boston.

One night in late April, I went with Chavkin to see “The Outsiders,” a new Broadway musical based on S. E. Hinton’s young-adult novel, which Francis Ford Coppola adapted into a film in 1983. The show had opened three days before “Lempicka,” also to mixed reviews, but was faring well in ticket sales. Its thirty-five-year-old director, Chavkin’s friend Danya Taymor—the niece of Julie Taymor, the director of “The Lion King” and one of Chavkin’s early heroes—was making her Broadway-musical directorial début.

“The Outsiders,” about warring gangs of teen-age boys in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is a crowd-pleaser, with a breezy, if forgettable, score and a cast full of peppy (and in one case shirtless) youths. But its stagecraft is inventive and mature. During intermission, Chavkin noted that one climactic maneuver, featuring two boys leaping onto a moving train with swinging flashlights lighting their way, had echoes of a stunning moment in “Hadestown” when Orpheus travels to the underworld and five large, low-hanging lamps sway out over the audience in perfect unison. “Not in a derivative way,” she hastened to add. “They are talking to each other.” She walked over to Taymor, who was standing near the front of the stage. “It’s so fucking good,” Chavkin said, squeezing Taymor on the shoulder.

Afterward, on a car ride back to Brooklyn, Chavkin stared out the window. “I often felt, with the Team , that we were too warm or emotional or whatnot for downtown,” she said. “And then, uptown, I feel very welcomed, but also often have felt like my taste doesn’t align with a lot of what gets celebrated or sustained.” She went on, “I won’t speak to this season at all, for a number of reasons, but in previous seasons I will see stuff and I will just be, like, I don’t understand. I am genuinely confused by what ‘good’ is. It’s something about the comfort of the familiar, when what I’ve always been most exhilarated by is, I’ve never seen that before .”

All the great Broadway directors swing and miss. Julie Taymor’s “Spider-Man” musical was a notorious disaster. Hal Prince had seven flops in a row, beginning with “Merrily We Roll Along,” then made “The Phantom of the Opera.” “Gatsby” is expected to eventually transfer to Broadway, but Chavkin said that she’s eager to get back to making “weird shit” downtown, and that her financial security from “Hadestown” has given her the privilege of being choosy. She continues to consider the TEAM a “spiritual home base.” A project the ensemble has been working on for many years, about the interpersonal legacy of slavery, co-directed by Chavkin and Zhailon Levingston, is scheduled to finish workshopping at BAM in the fall. At the same time, Chavkin is developing her first Hollywood project—a period film about a punk band—with the encouragement of Steven Spielberg, who, after seeing “Hadestown,” told her that she thinks like a filmmaker.

The “Gatsby” closing number features the character of Nick Carraway singing Fitzgerald’s famous final line: “So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.” Like “Gatsby,” all three of Chavkin’s Broadway musicals end tragically, but with a sense that something vital has been gleaned from the heartache. In “Hadestown,” after Orpheus fails to rescue Eurydice from Hades—and she falls back into the underworld, via a mechanism that descends beneath the stage—Hermes starts the story over from the top, saying that they will “sing it again.” The cast then performs an epilogue, downstage and without microphones, after they’ve taken their bows. In a book about the making of the show, Anaïs Mitchell writes that Chavkin “felt that the audience needed a final moment together, with the Company, to fully process.” In “Lempicka,” Tamara’s art is rediscovered late in her life, but she is still haunted by her personal losses. For most of the musical, Lempicka’s paintings are depicted only as digital projections or as empty frames onstage. But, in the final minutes, huge reproductions lower from the ceiling and fill the stage with their jewel tones. “We do not control the world. We control one flat rectangle of canvas at a time,” Tamara sings, and—in a lovely “simple gesture”—a “blue-out” of milky sapphire light swallows the stage.

The day after we saw “The Outsiders,” the Boston run of “Gatsby” was extended owing to advance demand. The following week, the Tony nominations were announced. “Lempicka” got three nods, including one for Espinosa as Best Actress, but it didn’t get Best Musical, and Chavkin was passed over for Best Direction. On May 2nd, Chavkin texted me, “We’re about to post a closing notice.”

The surge of attention that “Lempicka” needed did arrive, too late. In its last weeks, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Rosie O’Donnell went to see it and posted praise on social media. Madonna slipped into the penultimate performance, wearing huge black sunglasses. A crowd of mostly young and queer fans—Lempeople, they’d taken to calling themselves—camped out in long lines for rush tickets. On closing day, outside the Longacre, a Lemperson named Lauren Cagnetta was dressed in a pink T-shirt emblazoned with Espinosa’s face. Cagnetta was seeing the show for the thirty-third time. A twentysomething named Sam Bash sported a fanny pack covered in homemade “Lempicka” buttons. “Shows are short,” Bash said, tearily. “But art is long.”

Inside the theatre, the mood was raucous. When Espinosa took her place on the bench, the audience erupted. Several numbers got a standing ovation, causing the show to run overtime. The cast, feeding off the energy in the room, seemed newly confident, their performances rawer and more lived in. At intermission, a man sitting behind me, who identified himself as a stage director, described “Lempicka” as the “tragedy of this Broadway season.” He went on, “If you don’t have original shows, you can’t have revivals in twenty years. Nobody revives jukebox musicals.” After the final bows, the cast and the core creative team lingered onstage to deliver speeches. Their tone was defiant, their narrative neat: the show had simply been misunderstood. Kreitzer, noting that a cast album would be out shortly, quoted Tennessee Williams from “Orpheus Descending”: “Wild things leave skins behind them.”

Once the audience had shuffled out of the theatre, the crew strung caution tape across the stage. The next day, demolition of the set would begin. Chavkin sat alone in the orchestra section until the house went dark and only a single ghost light illuminated the stage. “It was different tonight,” she said. In its final moments, “Lempicka” had acquired the kind of abandon that Chavkin’s best work is known for. “The cast found more space. It got more complicated, and craggy. You know, when you’re first making the machine of a show, it can feel very polished. But my favorite part has always been the cracks.” ♦

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