Festival offers food, dance and a variety of vendors
More than a hundred blue and white tents line the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg. At the stage down the road, children dance to the beats of Hindi music, known popularly as Bollywood. Hundreds of people stroll along from booth to booth, creating a scene that resembles an open market bustling with life and activity.
The third annual Zee TV Heritage India Festival, presented by Rushi Entertainment on June 19 and 20, brought together the best of the Indian culture at one fair. A variety of attractions aimed to entertain visitors for hours at a stretch. For people of all ages, the music of Bollywood is an Indian pastime that could not be overlooked, and vendors sold DVDs, CDs and tapes of songs from Hindi films and popular Bhangra remixes.
Various dance groups, compliments of grade-school children, performed for the audience throughout the day on stage. If visitors were lucky, they might also have been able to see a world-renowned Rajhasthani entertainment troupe, led by Rehmat Kahn Langa. The troupe performed puppet shows, fire breathing and a ghumar dance, native to Rajhasthan in India.
Non-profit organizations for underprivileged children, such as Vibha, Asha for Education and Support a Child worked towards raising funds by selling games, greeting cards and henna.
The delicious food at the festival ranged from kebabs to paneer tikkas, or cheese cubes, and chole bature, or deep fried bread with chick peas. Prices ranged from $3 to $6 per dish, and a bottle of mango juice sold for $2.
Jewelers such as Vitha Jewelers offered gold bracelets, necklaces and ankle chains, which mainly attracted women interested in expensive ornaments. Another popular attraction for women was the apparel, which varied from sarees, traditional cloths wrapped around the woman, to lenghas, long one-piece clothes, and salvar-kameezes, shirts and pants.
Whether it was the jewelry or the performances, the Zee TV Heritage India Festival provided everybody with a little bit of entertainment and a lot of satisfaction. Truly, it gives everybody a sample of the heritage of India.
Varun Gulati. Varun is a <b>senior</b> at Blair and loves working for Silver Chips Online, listening to his archaic mp3 player and chatting on AIM while his mother nags him in the background. More »
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