Chariot festival rolls through Halifax streetsPublished Jun 07, 2025 • Last updated 4 hours ago • 2 minute readHalifax’s Indian community celebrated the Ratha Yatra festival on Saturday. Photo by Bill SpurrThe dreary day hardly called to mind the word festive, but the celebrants’ clothing was vividly bright, and as the poster said, “free Indian cuisine,” which makes everything better.Halifax’s Indian community on Saturday marked the festival of Ratha Yatra – which translates to chariot journey – celebrated for more than 5,000 years in India and four years in Halifax.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY.Subscribe now to access this story and more:Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsSUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES.Subscribe or sign in to your account to continue your reading experience.Unlimited access to the website and appExclusive access to premium content, newsletters and podcastsFull access to the e-Edition app, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment onEnjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalistsSupport local journalists and the next generation of journalistsRegister to unlock more articles.Create an account or sign in to continue your reading experience.Access additional stories every monthShare your thoughts and join the conversation in our commenting communityGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorArticle content“This is a festival of unity. We are a lot of colours and we all get together to celebrate the lord. It’s all one, there is no different people, we’re all one and that’s pretty much the base of this,” said festival organizer Anchal Gandhi, who took a break from issuing directions in all directions to explain the event. “This festival is all about loud music and dance. We have a pipe band coming today, so we are kind of incorporating Indian and European culture together (bagpipe/bansuri musical fusion?) That’s the highlight, our goal is for everyone to dance and enjoy.”Halifax’s Ratha Yatra, open to all, attracted a thousand people its first year, 2,000 for the second edition, 3,000 last year and organizers expected 5,000 on Saturday. They estimate attendance by the number of plates that are filled through the day.“And we’re planning to move 5,000 plates today,” said Gandhi. “Generally, it’s a combination of sweet, savoury, rice, protein.”Article contentThe star of the show, apart from the food, is the chariot that paraded through downtown Halifax streets. It’s 35 feet tall, weighs four tons and is hauled by people on a 75-foot rope.“The whole canopy goes up and down, because of the power lines,” Gandhi said of the chariot. “Actually, the city is very helpful. We have Nova Scotia Power involved, we have fire, we have police involved. When a power line is low, the canopy of the chariot goes down. People who have never seen this before, their first reaction is awe.”Quebec machinist and welder Alain Yvon built the chariot, which took more than a year. When it’s not in use, it can fold up to fit into his large trailer.“I decided to build it because we used to have to dismantle every part and it takes three or four days to assemble, it was too much work so I decided to build this so it would be easier to move from one place to another,” he said. “I live in Quebec, and I go to Montreal, Ottawa and some places in the United States as well.”The chariot is made of steel and aluminum, and Yvon steers it and operates the brake, which he fashioned from a pickup truck. He’s built three of them.“Some places use only one chariot because they have fewer people. In Toronto they use three.”Article content
Chariot festival rolls through Halifax streets
