


Fifteen years ago, Anjula Acharia hosted an intimate Diwali party with about 40 guests in her TriBeCa apartment. She wanted to invite her friends to celebrate the Hindu festival of lights, which she grew up observing with her family in Buckinghamshire, England, a suburb roughly 50 miles northwest of London.
Ms. Acharia, an entrepreneur who also manages the actress Priyanka Chopra, has organized the party almost every year since, usually in her apartment or at a friend’s house. In 2019, she brought it to the Pierre hotel.
Now, called the All That Glitters Diwali Ball, the event is a glamorous affair and one of the most visible Diwali gatherings in the country, filled with pre-eminent South Asian musicians, politicians, fashion designers and business executives.
“It’s just gotten bigger and better,” Ms. Acharia said, noting that five years ago, she struggled to find sponsors for décor and food. “Now, we’ve had a battle for sponsors.”
On Saturday, about 300 guests descended a grand staircase inside the Pierre in their most elegant South Asian attire — some in their bedazzled wedding lehengas — and into the party where Punjabi tracks played from the stereo.
The comedian Hasan Minhaj posed for photos with the actress Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, and Ali Sethi, a singer and songwriter, chatted with Avantika Vandanapu, who starred in “Mean Girls,” the 2024 film.