Utah
Will Utah celebrate a new holiday with fireworks next year?
An Indian people prayer dance is carried out in the course of the tenth Annual Diwali Celebration in Salt Lake Metropolis on Nov. 13, 2011. Diwali, the “Competition of Lights,” is likely one of the oldest and most necessary festivals in India and will turn into a state vacation subsequent yr underneath a brand new invoice. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret Information)
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SALT LAKE CITY — Utah could have a brand new vacation on the calendar subsequent yr because of a proposed invoice that will commemorate Diwali, the Indian Competition of Lights.
Diwali is mostly celebrated as a five-day pageant that lands between mid-October and mid-November, based mostly on the Hindu lunisolar calendar, and is historically celebrated with firework shows.
SB46, sponsored by Sen. Lincoln Fillmore, R-South Jordan, would commemorate Diwali yearly and permit for the sale and use of fireworks starting two days earlier than the primary day of Diwali and ending on the final day. Presently, fireworks are solely allowed round Independence Day, Pioneer Day, New 12 months’s Eve and Chinese language New 12 months’s Eve.
“There’s a big and rising Indian and Hindu neighborhood in Utah,” Fillmore stated. “The India Cultural Heart of Utah is in my Senate district, and I simply needed to be sure that we offer recognition for the contributions that that tradition makes to the fantastic tapestry that’s Utah.”
Fillmore stated the concept for the invoice got here from a constituent who informed him individuals within the Indian neighborhood have not been in a position to “have a good time in the identical method that different cultures have a good time their most necessary days.”
Below SB46, Diwali could be acknowledged as a commemorative interval, not an official state vacation, which suggests state places of work would nonetheless be open and state workers wouldn’t get day without work. Diwali would be part of different state commemorative durations similar to Utah State Flag Day on March 9, Utah Railroad Staff Day on Might 10, and Structure Day on Sept. 17.
Juneteenth was beforehand commemorated by the state, earlier than the Utah Legislature designated it an official state vacation earlier this yr.
Fillmore stated there could also be pushback by some in regards to the further days of authorized firework use — given the potential for wildfires amidst Utah’s yearslong drought — however he thinks the pageant’s celebration within the fall poses much less threat. The invoice permits for fireworks use no later than 9 p.m. on weeknights and 10 p.m. on weekends, which is feasible as a result of the solar units a lot earlier within the fall than it does in the course of the summer season.
Fillmore expects his colleagues to be on board with commemorating Diwali, however he stated “we’ll see what occurs across the fireworks subject.”
SB46 has but to be assigned to a committee. The 2023 normal session of the Utah Legislature begins on Jan. 17, 2023.