When Reetu Gupta and her family moved to Redmond Ridge about 11 years ago, part of the reason was to help with the work commute; another reason was because they knew the area had a large Indian and Indian American community.

And with a significant cultural community comes cultural holiday celebrations.

One of those is Diwali, a Hindu holiday that celebrates a victory of good over evil.

Gupta said Diwali is a festival of lights marking the return Lord Rama after living in exile for 14 years and defeating the monster Ravana. People decorate their homes with clay lamps to welcome him back, she said. Gupta likened Diwali to Christmas, saying it is one of the foundations of the Hindu religion. And like Christmas, people exchange gifts. In addition, she said, people wear new clothes and eat “lots of sweets.” Gupta said there are also signs of the holiday everywhere in India — also like Christmas.

“We miss that,” Gupta said.

To keep some of that celebratory spirit going stateside, members of the Indian and Indian American community in Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East hold an annual Diwali event.

“In India, it’s a very different environment than here, but we try to recreate it,” Gupta said.

This year’s event, dubbed RR&E Diwali 2015, will be at 4 p.m. tomorrow at Rosa Parks Elementary School, 22845 N.E. Cedar Park Cres. Tickets are $15 and $10 for kids.

People will have the opportunity to meet and socialize with their fellow attendees and neighbors, take in some cultural performances featuring local kids and teens and enjoy a special dinner. There will also be a special diya — or clay lamp — ceremony. At the end of the event, there will dancing with music provided by a hired DJ.

RR&E Diwali is put on by RRICHA, a nonprofit organization Gupta and other event organizers recently founded that is dedicated to celebrating Indian culture and heritage in Redmond Ridge and Redmond Ridge East neighborhoods.

Gupta said in the past — since she moved to the area 11 years ago — there has been a Diwali event every year and organizers have changed every few years. It wasn’t sustainable. RRICHA was created to help with this. For more information, visit rricha.org.

For this year’s event, Gupta said they were short on funds so they decided to raise money through crowdsourcing. The organizers just posted about their need on the event’s Facebook page and received a tremendous response.

“We got people lined up to give us checks,” Gupta said, adding that they raised about $3,000 within a couple days.

For this year’s event, she said they are expecting about 800 people to attend — up from the initial estimates of 600. Because of this increase in numbers, Gupta said they have had to get creative with logistics.

For Gupta, it is important to celebrate cultural events such as Diwali because it helps them stay connected to their Indian roots. This leads to another issue of motivation to hold the Diwali event: the teens and youth in the community.

Gupta said many of the youth — like her own children — were born in the United States and have not been to India. She wants them to experience Diwali and learn about their culture and heritage.

“This is our chance to come together as a community,” Gupta said.