This French island in the Indian Ocean to the east of Madagascar is home to nearly 2.5 lakh people of Indian origin—nearly a quarter to a third of the total population. Most of the Indian origin population is concentrated in St. Andre, St. Pierre, St. Leu and St. Louis. Although Deepavali is celebrated in most of these areas, the centre of attraction is the celebrations in Colossus Park, where every person of Indian origin gathers to celebrate the festival together.

On Sunday, the day of Deepavali, people of the region gathered in Colossus Park of St. Andre and played Holi with each other. The well-known Bollywood Holi song "Rang barse bhige chunar wali", sung by Amitabh Bachchan, was played and people were dancing in artificial rain and splashing colour at each other. The park, on the east coast of Reunion Island, is also a favourite tourist destination and picnic spot for locals. An exclusive cultural event was organised at Colossus Park with people of Indian origin performing Bharatnatyam, Kuchipudi and Kathak classical Indian dances. On Sunday evening the temples and the houses were adorned with thousands of small lamps, fairy lights, and candles to commemorate the victory of light over darkness, good over evil.

On the eve of Deepavali, a procession began in St. Andre from the municipality office and wended its way to Sarda Garriga Stadium. The procession looked like a "mini kumbh" of Indian culture where Bharatnatyam dance, as well as dances performed during South Indian festivals of Pongal and Thaipusam, mingled with the Dandia of Gujarat and folk dances during Basant Panchami of North India—on the streets. Young men and women were dressed as grooms and brides during the march. The brides were dressed in lehanga choli while the grooms were dressed in ethnic kurta pyjama.