Every year, we celebrate Diwali in the office to get the corporate family together to share the joy and delight of the festival of lights! In Indian culture, Diwali is one of the most celebrated festivals. Filled with bright colors, lights, flowers, good food, Diwali gifts, and festive crackers, Diwali is the festival of lights that lights up a home or office.
The Diwali celebration at the office can be an adaptation of the festivities we have at home, starting off by adding décor and lights to the place and completing it with some festive food and sweets. Diwali is an occasion where we look forward to celebrating with our near and dear ones and in today's time, our corporate family becomes an integral part of any celebration!
Diwali celebration ideas in the office are a great way to bring the office together and share a moment of joy and laughter.
Benefits of Diwali Celebration in Office
Diwali celebration ideas at the workplace are a great way to break away from the usual schedule and keep it interesting in the office. Encouraging the team to balance work and life promotes a healthier approach to living life in the long run, which in turn makes for better-performing and happier team members. Here are a few benefits of having Diwali celebrations and giving Diwali gifts at the workplace.
- Diwali celebrations bring people together and make it possible for them to work together more harmoniously.
- Fosters cultural inclusivity among the employees.
- The celebration creates an opportunity for the employees to socialize and get to know each other in a more casual setting.
- Including Diwali gifts and celebrations at the workplace helps break the monotony of the professional setting.
- Honoring cultural traditions and celebrating them makes people feel recognized.
With the added benefits of Diwali celebrations at the office, we encourage you to make this Diwali at work more fun with some interesting activities and even Diwali gifts. Here are some ways you can celebrate Diwali at work!
Here are the List of top 12 Diwali Celebration Ideas:
From Festive Décor at work to Gift boxes, we have covered it all in our list of Diwali celebration ideas for work below.
- Festive Décor at Work
- Traditional Outfits for The Day
- Sense of Green Gift Hamper
- Create Rangolis or Make Clay Diyas
- Explore Indian Food with Traditional Lunch
- Indian Board Games
- Exchange Gifts
- Nuts and Raisin Platter Hamper
- Lunch at the Local Orphanage
- Throw an Office Party
- Have A Photo Booth
- A Box of Gold Gift Hamper
1. Festive décor at work
Changing the look and feel of your office environment is a great way to kick-start the festivities around Diwali. Invite the whole team to get involved and add festive décor and liven up the place for the season. If there are individual cubicles assigned, you could even have a competition to see who has the best decorated cubicle according to the theme! Decorating the office will bring the Diwali spirits physically and get the mood going for the festival! Remember to add lots of lights to your workspace as Diwali is the festival of lights!
2. Traditional outfits for the day
There is no better way to celebrate festivities than by dressing up for the occasion! Encourage your employees to dress in traditional outfits like salwar, suits, and sarees for the women and kurtas and dhotis for the men. If you have a large team or corporate family, you could hand out titles like “Best outfit” or “Most colorful outfit” based on people's votes. While the team is all dressed up, it’s also a good time to put on a show or even take team pictures – the memories will last you a lifetime.
3. Sense of Green Gift Hamper
Beautiful diyas and exquisite dry fruits are an integral part of Diwali and what better way to celebrate with your corporate family than to celebrate with an elegantly curated gift box that incorporates both ideas? Gift your team members and peers this Sense of Green gift box that comes with two handcrafted wooden block diyas, a jute bag of cashews, and a jute bag of almonds that comes sinfully curated in a rich green box that is reusable. This Diwali gift hamper is the perfect way to show cultural recognition celebrations and work.
4. Create rangolis or make clay Diyas
Diwali is an occasion where you can explore the creative side of your team members! Break away from the usual corporate schedule by organizing a Rangoli contest – have your team members make rangolis as festive décor or you can even give away gift hampers for the best rangolis! Set up a stall or organize an activity to make traditional clay diyas by hand that they can take home, The event can be an icebreaker session, bring together the whole team, and be a fun team-building activity too! Creative activities have the potential to bring out the fun side in people so don’t forget to explore!
5. Explore Indian food with a traditional lunch
Food, without a doubt, brings together people across all beliefs, cultures, sex, or age group! This Diwali, plan and organize a fun, traditional lunch at work that is full of typical Diwali dishes – including dishes from various regions of India, you could even take inputs from your team members on the traditional dishes that are usually prepared for Diwali in their homes. Have a catering team bring in the best Diwali dishes or have a fun potluck, either way, a fun Diwali lunch will have your office pumped with the festival spirit!
6. Indian board games
Diwali is a good occasion to revive traditional Indian board games that have lost their prominence over time. It's very often, in the stories told by our grandparents, that we hear tales of a lazy afternoon on the verandah at home, surrounded by siblings and cousins and family members of all age groups several board games were played. It was a fun way to gather the family members and have a fun and playful session. This Diwali, revive old board games like Ashtapada or Chaupar and have a little friendly competition in the office.
7. Exchange gifts
The joy of gift-giving and receiving is undoubtedly the best part of any occasion or festival! Diwali gifts are an integral part of Diwali as Diwali is the time you can pamper and spoil your team members with gift hampers that are specially curated for the festival. Pick a special hamper that is full of dry fruits, sweets, nuts, and Diyas and surprise your corporate family. You can also have a Desi version of “Secret Santa” - an activity where the names of everyone are written on bits of paper, folded, and then each member picks a folded bit and exchanges gifts with the person mentioned on the paper. This is another activity that can foster “we feeling” among the team members.
8. Nuts and Raisin Platter Hamper
When one thinks of Diwali, the most immediate thoughts that come to our mind are of a beautifully decorated home that smells like a heavenly temple with memories of crunching on some decadent nuts and dry fruits. This year, pick the Nuts and Raisin Platter Hamper as your Diwali gift to your office team members and watch the joy of Diwali spread at work! In this hamper is a jar of classic almonds, a jar of whole cashew nuts, a jar of golden raisins, a pack of Phool incense cones, a set of wooden kettle-shaped coasters, and a custom note card – all of these assembled in an Ikat basket that can be reused later as a trinket tray or home décor.
9. Lunch at the local orphanage/ old age home
This Diwali why not switch it up by sharing the joy with the less privileged? Every year, we have the joy of celebrating festivities with our loved ones, each occasion filled with abundance and wealth. This year, for Diwali, why not arrange lunch at the local orphanage or old age home along with a visit to it with your team members? The activity will not only bring joy to your team but also joy to the less fortunate who do not have the means to enjoy the little things in life.
10. Throw an office party
We all just need an excuse to party, and Diwali is nothing short of an excuse to throw yet another brilliant and fun-filled party! Ensure that all your team joins in and partake in the activities – you can arrange for some fun office food, have great music on, organize some fun games and activities, exchange gifts with the team members, and most importantly, create an opportunity for the team members to mingle and bon amongst themselves. Have your team come in decked out in Indian clothes to celebrate the true spirit of Diwali and you can gear up to host one of the most colorful parties of the year!
11. Have a photo booth
Photos are a great way to capture and preserve the best memories in our lives and this holds true for all the memories we make at work. Use this Diwali as an occasion to set up a themed photobooth and have everyone take pictures! You can also include fun props to the booth that will add charm to the photos – funky glasses, pompoms, masks, etc., are some options you can include in the photo booth. Encourage the team to come in to work in their most decked-out ethnic wear for work and make sure to take lots of photos for the gram!
12. Box of Gold
Giving Diwali gifts to your employees is a great way to celebrate Diwali. This Box of Gold Gift is a classic gift hamper that honors the culture and traditions of the festival while being classic, elegant, and stylish. In the Box of Gold are two red terracotta diyas, a jute bag of cashews, a jute bag of almonds, a jar of spicy makhana, and a custom note card that can include a personal message from your company. All these luxurious products come elegantly packed in a reusable box with a lid that can be used to store and organize personal stuff at work or in the office.
Recommended Products
When is the best time to have a Diwali celebration at the office?
Keep in mind that Diwali is the time for family and friends to gather and celebrate together, Organize your Diwali celebrations ideas at the office well in advance before they go on leave to visit families. Have the team informed of all the activities so they have the time to come prepared and enjoy being part of the festivities. If you are planning Diwali gifts, pre-plan them and have them shipped out at least a week prior to Diwali so that they arrive well in time for the celebrations at the office.
The joys of having a corporate family come in the form of little celebrations we have at work; the moments of laughter we share with our team members and the memories we make and hold dear to us. This year, celebrate Diwali in the office, and make sure you create unforgettable memories!
