Events, including film screenings, take place across Surrey and West and East Sussex to celebrate Diwali.

Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights and symbolizes the “spiritual victory of light over darkness, of good over evil and of knowledge over ignorance”.

The date is determined by the position of the moon, and although Diwali this year falls on October 31, some places, including Burwash, have their main celebrations on Friday.

The celebrations can take place over five or six days.

Mandira’s Kitchen, a small business in Albury near Guildford, Surrey, is celebrating Diwali on Thursday through one of its monthly supper clubs – a temporary ticketed pop-up restaurant with a special themed menu.

There will be music performed by Wild Tabla, an Indian percussionist, as well as dancing and discussions around Diwali.

Mandira said: “It will be quite a spectacle, I think, and I think overlooking the ponds with the lights and everything, it will be very beautiful.”

Bateman’s in Burwash, East Sussex – one of the National Trust properties – will celebrate Diwali between Friday and Sunday.

Open from 11am to 3.30pm GMT each day, the house will be decorated with twinkling lights and handmade paper lotus flowers, the National Trust says.

There will also be a new short film featuring an abridged version of the Ramayana, an Indian tale at the heart of Diwali.

The Ramayana recounts Prince Rama’s journey to save his beloved wife, Sita, with the help of an army of monkeys.