WAIA Diwali Mela 2026 at North Creek High School in Bothell

WAIA’s Diwali Mela is Saturday, October 24, 2026, from 3 to 9 p.m. in the North Creek High School Commons in Bothell. Entry is free. You still have to register. The Washington Indian Association’s own form says the venue has a cap, and the RSVP is how they stay inside it.

The school’s official address is 3613 191st Place SE, Bothell 98012. That is the Northshore School District campus that opened in 2017, a 61-acre site in the North Creek neighborhood on the King and Snohomish line. The Commons is the indoor gathering hall, the kind of room a district rents on a Saturday night. Last October, WAIA used the same Commons for Diwali Mela 2025, noon to 8 p.m. This year’s form locks 3 to 9. Treat the street as the school, not as a second mystery address from an events listing.

WAIA is a Washington 501(c)(3). Ram Sundar is founder and president. Jayanthi Ram is co-founder. The homepage still leads with the Grand Summer Mela from August 1 at Willis D. Tucker Community Park in Snohomish. The live 2026 Diwali card is the Jotform, not that homepage. Register there. A separate form is circulating for cultural performers. Questions can go to waia4us@gmail.com.

This is a school commons at night, not a temple. Bring the kids if they will last until 9. Food and shopping, if they show, will be for purchase. The registration form does not list vendors or a stage order. WAIA membership includes free entry to hosted events and a small discount on cultural-program fees. You do not need a membership for this mela. You need the RSVP.

Festál’s Diwali: Lights of India is the free walk-up Saturday, November 7, at the Seattle Center Armory, the day before the holiday. Uttoron’s Deepaboli is Sunday, November 8, at Pickering Barn in Issaquah, 2:15 to 8:15 p.m., with an RSVP of its own. Ananda Mela in August was the outdoor Eastside India weekend. This October Saturday is the Bothell indoor one.

I-405 to the Bothell-Everett Highway, then Maltby Road and York Road, is the district’s posted drive. There is no useful Link stop. School parking lots fill when the Commons is rented. Arrive closer to 3 if you want a table. Confirm the form still lists 3 to 9 the week of, and bring a confirmation email. The form asks for adult and kid counts so they can hold the cap.

Our take: register if you live north of the Ship Canal and want Diwali before the Armory. If you only go to one public lights night, wait for Festál. That door does not ask for a headcount form.

When: October 24, 2026, 3–9 p.m.
Where: North Creek High School Commons, 3613 191st Pl SE, Bothell, WA 98012