SBS celebrates the Festivals of Lights with bold, illuminating stories across the network

From drama and documentaries to food, music and podcasts, SBS is the destination for all Australians to celebrate and connect through Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar.

In celebration of the Festivals of Lights, SBS is lighting up screens and homes with a vibrant line-up of premium multilingual content that reflects the rich traditions of Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas and Tihar, and welcomesall communities from across the nation to connect and celebrate together.

From now until November, audiences can enjoy a kaleidoscopic line-up spanning world-class series, movies, documentaries, cultural explainers, podcasts, festive food shows, music videos, engaging student resources, community events and more. With the Festivals of Lights celebrated by over a billion people globally, including more than one million Australians of South Asian heritage, now is the perfect time to spotlight vibrant stories and perspectives from these diverse communities.

Performers from the Australian Nepali Multicultural Centre celebrating Dashain, Tihar and Chhath. Photo credit: Abhas Parajuli.

SBS Acting Managing Director, Jane Palfreyman, said, “SBS is proud to celebrate the Festivals of Lights with all Australians. Whether you mark Diwali, Deepavali, Bandi Chhor Diwas or Tihar – or you’re simply curious – our coverage invites everyone to share, learn and celebrate together. By showcasing stories in English and other languages, we’re helping build understanding, belonging and social cohesion right across the country.”

SBS Audio’s Bangla, Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi, Sinhala, Spice, Tamil and Telugu programs have a wealth of new content and explainers on the way. Highlights include:

• SBS Gujarati: Video and audio features with interfaith couples reflecting on what Diwali means to them and how they celebrate in unique ways, plus a video story showcasing the traditional Gujarati celebration of Annakut – which translates to mountains of food.
• SBS Hindi: A video exploring what Diwali signifies across cultures and a collaboration with celebrity chef Helly Raichura on fusion sweets made using native Australian ingredients.
• SBS Punjabi: An audio and video interview with Laura Jane Singh, a First Nations healing practitioner who married into a Punjabi family. This intersectional story explores how Laura and her Punjabi husband Inderjit Singh blend their unique cultural rituals in celebration of Diwali.
• SBS South Asian: Audiences can also enjoy curated music programming in six languages to get into the festive spirit. Tune in from 18-20 October for music specials from SBS Gujarati, SBS Hindi, SBS Nepali,  SBS Punjabi, SBS Sinhala and SBS Telugu. Plus, in a first, SBS South Asian headed to Cairns for a full day of live broadcasts and content creation, featuring dozens of interviews with local community members, leaders and parliamentarians in ten languages. You can listen now in Hindi, Nepali and Punjabi, or check out SBS Gujarati, SBS Malayalam, SBS Sinhala and SBS Tamil’spodcast coverage, with more videos and podcasts to be released by all language teams this week.
• SBS Spice: The English-language digital channel for Gens Y and Z South Asian Australians, is bringing the festivities to the studio with Party in the Pod, a limited vodcast series where conversations flow over food. Across three episodes, South Asian influencers, creators, artists and community figures come together to share stories and celebrate under the twinkling studio lights.

SBS On Demand is ringing in the Festivals of Lights with the Celebrating Diwali | Deepavali collection, featuring seven curated shelves that capture the essence of this cross-cultural occasion. Highlights include critically acclaimed SBS Original romantic drama series Four Years Later, vibrant animation The Glassworker, Jasmeet Raina’s unmissable comedy series Late Bloomer,compelling documentaries like World’s Largest Cricket Stadium, and a dedicated Hindi Music Videos shelf that is guaranteed to get the party started. Audiences can also explore the platform’s broader South Asian collection which spotlights the best of South Asian films, TV, shows, and news.

Further programming highlights across SBS channels, include:

• SBS main channel is bringing back beloved favourites, including Luke Nguyen’s India (from Thursday 17 October, 11.05am); Bollywed (from Monday 20 October, 3.00pm); and Treasures of India with Bettany Hughes (from Monday 20 October, 4.10pm).
• SBS VICELAND will entertain with The Matchmakers (from Monday 20 October, 5.45pm); and Brand Bollywood Downunder (Tuesday 21 October, 11.20pm).
• SBS Food is serving up a flavourful line-up, including two series premieres. Catch Maneet’s Eatsand Secrets of the Curry Kitchen weeknights from October 15 at 6.00pm and 6.30pm.
• SBS World Movies is hosting a movie marathon on Monday 20 October with four channel premieres: award-winning family drama Gulmohar (5.00pm), cross-cultural rom-com UNindian starring Brett Lee and Tannishtha Chatterjee (7.30pm), sports drama Ghoomer (9.30pm) and dramedy Maja Ma (12.00am).

All titles will also be available to stream free on SBS On Demand.

SBS’s education arm, SBS Learn, is supporting classrooms across Australia with ready-to-use resources for Diwali/Deepavali, designed for both primary and secondary students. The materials explore how, why and when the Festivals of Lights are celebrated, and include hands-on activities such as creating a rangoli or kolam, making a traditional diya – an oil lamp used during Diwali, and a recipe for preparing a simple barfi sweet. A multilingual video, subtitled in Gujarati, Hindi, Malayalam, Nepali, Punjabi and Tamil, further supports learning and reflects the diversity of Diwali celebrations across South Asian communities.

Around Australia, SBS has partnered with a variety of community celebrations organised by local councils and associations, bringing festivities to NSW, Qld, SA, Tas, Vic and WA. Check SBS’s Festival Guide for details of this year’s events.

For more information, visit sbs.com.au/Diwali

For a pdf copy of this media release, click here.