For the festival of light, Kricket has handed its private dining room over to wax. Georgia, founder of Hackney candle studio Ohros, leads a 90-minute workshop. You choose from a library of more than 30 scents, blend your own soy wax candle, then name and label it. A Botivo serve, the non-alcoholic botanical aperitif, is included to sip while you work. The candle needs 24 hours to set. Collect it from 9am on Sunday, or wait two to three hours and spend them nearby. Stay for breakfast or lunch and the meal is half price, which makes the waiting easier. One for adults and older children. Hot wax and small hands do not mix. Where: Kricket Shoreditch, 35-42 Charlotte Road, EC2A 3PB. When: Saturday 7 November, 11am–12.30pm or 1.30pm–3pm. Tickets: £45, including materials, a Botivo serve and your candle. Access: The private dining room is not wheelchair accessible.

A mela is a community fair, and Kricket is throwing one for families. A dhol drummer meets you at the door. Inside there is henna, face painting and carrom, the South Asian board game, with the team from Karrom on hand to teach it. The centrepiece is a screen-printing station run by Natasha Kumar, whose work hangs in Kricket's restaurants. With artists Ben Allen and Adam Bridgland, she helps guests customise their own Kumar print. There is glitter. You have been warned. Tickets include bottomless biryani, chai and fresh lime soda, so lunch is settled. Where: Kricket Canary Wharf, Unit 6, Frobisher Passage, E14 5HA. When: Saturday 7 November, 12pm–4pm. Tickets: £30 adults, £15 under-12s, under-2s free. Access: Wheelchair accessible, though the room can get tight at busy moments.

Romy Gill took over The Pem at the Conrad London St. James in September. This is the restaurant's first Diwali under her, and she is cooking what she serves at home for the festival, with a few detours picked up travelling across India. The four-course menu opens with aloo tikki, crisp spiced potatoes with shallot, chilli, coriander and chickpeas. Then twice-marinated lamb chops with mint chutney, and dhaba-style murgh, a Punjabi chicken curry. Kaddu, pumpkin with chilli, white poppy and coconut, is her favourite vegetarian dish for the Diwali table. Pudding is moong dal halwa with saffron and nuts, and saffron ice cream on the side. The dining room is deep red, hung with Mughal-inspired artwork. It suits the occasion. Where: Romy Gill at The Pem, Conrad London St. James, 22-28 Broadway, SW1H 0BH. When: Until Saturday 7 November. Price: £65 per person for four courses.

The National Maritime Museum's Diwali festival, All Together Now, is curated by Mehala Ford of COMMONGROUND& and Friday Sari Project. Expect performances, workshops, talks and a new Diwali Bazaar of South Asian designers and makers. The day ends with a lantern parade through the grounds, led by a dhol drummer. Where: National Maritime Museum, Romney Road, SE10 9NF. When: Saturday 7 November, 10am–5pm. Tickets: Free.

BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir marks Diwali on Sunday 8 November and Annakut, the Hindu New Year, on Monday 9 November. Annakut is the one to see: the shrines are laid with hundreds of vegetarian dishes as an offering. Go to look, not to be looked after. It is a place of worship first. Where: BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir, Neasden, NW10. When: Sunday 8 and Monday 9 November. Tickets: Free.

Dishoom's newest café sits in the Hop Exchange by Borough Market, and for Diwali its facade is wrapped in neon by artist Chila Kumari Singh Burman. The installation stays up until the end of December. Over the weekend there are bookable workshops, from chai with co-founder Kavi Thakrar to family storytelling with author Chitra Soundar. Where: Dishoom Borough, The Hop Exchange, 24 Southwark Street, SE1 1TY. When: Workshops 6–8 November; neon until the end of December. Tickets: Workshops from £5.

Executive chef Sajeev Nair’s five-course Taste of Trishna, with a vegetarian version. £120 per person, £90 for wine pairing. Until 8 November. 15-17 Blandford Street, W1U 3DG.

A four-course feasting menu inspired by India’s royal courts, in the restaurant’s tenth year. Lamb achari gosht, then kala jamun with saffron basundi. £138 per person. Until 8 November. 8 Mount Street, W1K 3NF.

Indian barbecue from the team behind Gymkhana, with a four-course Diwali feast. Dorset crab samosa and BBQ butter chicken wings, then venison shank korma or dum guinea fowl biryani, and a kala jamun brûlée to finish. £105 per person, £100 for the vegetarian feast. 5–14 November. 1-5 Bloomberg Arcade, EC4N 8AR.

Open since 1982 and treating Diwali as a weekend. Brunch buffet with a chaat counter, then a dinner buffet on Saturday night. From £61 per person. 7–8 November. Courtfield Road, SW7 4QH.

A vegetarian (or vegan) sharing feast for two or more, created with Vikas Khanna, the Michelin-starred chef behind New York’s Bungalow. Bungalow’s spice-roasted pineapple also joins the all-day menu. £30 per person. 2–15 November, in every London café.

A sharing menu of butter chicken, dal makhani and pani puri, for those who want the feast without the tablecloth. £45 per person. Until 8 November. 58-60 East Dulwich Road, SE22 9AX.

Open since 1985. A five-course Diwali tasting menu runs all weekend, with a candlelit party and live performances on Sunday night. 6–8 November. 119 Brockley Rise, SE23 1JP.