SAN­DRA L BLOOD

Gas­par­il­lo-born mu­sic icon Ray­mond Ram­nar­ine is set to light up Di­wali at Times Square in New York City on Sun­day, bring­ing the spir­it and sound of T&T to one of the world’s most icon­ic stages.

The land­mark event, cel­e­brat­ing its tenth an­niver­sary this year, runs from 11 am to 9 pm and is recog­nised as one of the largest Di­vali cel­e­bra­tions out­side of In­dia.

Ram­nar­ine’s par­tic­i­pa­tion marks a proud mo­ment for chut­ney so­ca and East In­di­an cul­ture from the Caribbean, as he joins an in­ter­na­tion­al line-up at a fes­ti­val known for unit­ing glob­al com­mu­ni­ties through mu­sic, dance, and light.

“This is a proud mo­ment not just for me, but for T&T and the wider Caribbean,” Ram­nar­ine said. “To car­ry our sound, our rhythm, and our flag to Times Square is some­thing gen­er­a­tions be­fore us could on­ly dream of. I’m go­ing there to rep­re­sent with pride, love, and grat­i­tude.”

Host­ed an­nu­al­ly by Event­Gu­ru Inc., the mul­ti­cul­tur­al events di­vi­sion of ASB Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Di­wali at Times Square has be­come a bea­con of cul­tur­al uni­ty and di­as­po­ra pride, at­tract­ing thou­sands from across North Amer­i­ca. In­ter­na­tion­al me­dia have hailed it as the biggest Di­vali cel­e­bra­tion in the West­ern Hemi­sphere.

Fes­ti­val or­gan­is­ers said they want­ed to cel­e­brate this mile­stone in grand style, which in­spired the in­vi­ta­tion to Ram­nar­ine—a ges­ture he de­scribed as both hum­bling and in­spir­ing.

“When I found out they want­ed me to be part of their tenth an­niver­sary, I was blown away,” he said. “It’s an ho­n­our to be seen that way and to rep­re­sent our mu­sic on such a stage. It shows how far chut­ney so­ca has come and how far it can still go.”

Last year’s edi­tion fea­tured Guyanese chut­ney so­ca icon Ter­ry Gajraj, who re­ceived an over­whelm­ing re­sponse from the crowd. Ram­nar­ine’s in­clu­sion this year con­tin­ues that re­gion­al con­nec­tion, un­der­scor­ing the grow­ing glob­al ap­pre­ci­a­tion for Caribbean in­ter­pre­ta­tions of In­di­an mu­sic and cul­ture.

Born and raised in Gas­par­il­lo, Ram­nar­ine has spent more than two decades as the front­man of Dil-E-Nadan, one of T&T’s most suc­cess­ful crossover bands. His ca­reer has tak­en him across North Amer­i­ca, Eu­rope, Africa, and the Caribbean, earn­ing him ac­claim for blend­ing tra­di­tion, melody, and mod­ern stage­craft.

“This in­vi­ta­tion feels like an­oth­er chap­ter in our jour­ney to share our mu­sic with the world,” Ram­nar­ine said. “Every time I per­form abroad, I see more peo­ple con­nect­ing to our rhythm and our sto­ry. That’s what makes it all worth­while.”

An in­ter­na­tion­al Fes­ti­val of Lights, Di­wali at Times Square is the brain­child of Nee­ta Bhasin, a trail­blaz­er in mul­ti­cul­tur­al mar­ket­ing and one of the first In­di­an-Amer­i­can women to serve on the New York State Asian Amer­i­can and Pa­cif­ic Is­landers Com­mis­sion. Through Event­Gu­ru and ASB Com­mu­ni­ca­tions, Bhasin has cham­pi­oned cul­tur­al ex­change, pro­duc­ing land­mark events that show­case South Asian ex­cel­lence in the heart of New York City.

As T&T pre­pares to cel­e­brate Di­vali next week­end, Ram­nar­ine’s Times Square per­for­mance stands as a glow­ing pre­view of the light, love, and mu­sic ra­di­at­ing from these shores.

“This per­for­mance is my of­fer­ing of grat­i­tude to my fans, my an­ces­tors, and the cul­ture that made me who I am,” Ram­nar­ine said. “Di­vali is about light over­com­ing dark­ness, and that’s the mes­sage I’m car­ry­ing to the world.”

Fol­low @ray­mon­dram­nar­ine on so­cial me­dia for up­dates.