DIWALI Dancers Dipen Dabhi, 12, and his sister Natasha, seven, (pictured), were the jewels in the crown at a glitsy celebration for the start of the Hindu new year.

Dozens of children donned colourful Hindu costumes and danced gracefully to traditional music at the New Year Festival of Light spectacular, hosted by the Preston branch of the HSBC Bank.

The magical event comes ahead of an Anglo-Indian evening of music and dance, this Sunday, at Preston's Charter Theatre, at 7pm.

Acts will include classical Indian dance performances from Shashi Kala as well as popular eastern music from the Dinesh Chauhan with Navrang Kala. All proceeds will go to help people caught up in the cyclone crisis in India and the Yavastmal Disabled Children's Rehabilitation Centre, in the country.

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