India in the air!

The Little India Precinct in Dandenong was hos t to the inaugural BoUywood Festival held on April 15, and was a treat for the senses of tl1e 6000+ patrons who thronged the \7 e nue for a glimpse into India's culmre and heritage, as well as a taste of its variety of food.

Sh op fronts, the stage and fences were resplendent in decorations of garlands, w hile various enticing aromas o f ag,irb,,ttis wafted through the venue. These competed with the Aavours of diffe rent kinds of edible del ights on sale, from the five restaurants and barbeque stand that saw a throng of visitors enjoying their wares.

A thousand selected visirors were the l uck 1 recip ients of small, brightly co loured garlands and Little India showbags, which delighted them inm1ensely.

Chai tea from the tea- cart was distributed free of charge to v isitors new to tl1e Indian community. Omer activities included free face painting , mus ic and dance performances, a cricket workshop for children organi sed by Vic Cricket, lai1ghter yoga at the Pop-Up-Park, among others.

DJ Baba rod<ed tl1e house witl1 a scintillating mix of BoUywood's best num b ers, and with items like beUy dancing, African drumming, tabla, Spanish guitar, didgeridoo performances, bhangra dancing, tl1e crowd was enthusi astic about joining in the festi vities

For me fashion conscious, the fashion parnde by Heidi Rose, Nikita Fashion and Roshan Fashion with an exp losion of colours and styles and models grace full y sashaying or dancing down the ramp, received tremendous app lause fro m the excited audience.

One of me highlights of this extremely successful event was the opportunity to learn Bollywood dancing organ ised by Jhoom BoUywood and filmed by Coxey's Big Break. E veryo ne wanted to be a part of the fun, including VIP g uests Minister Brad Battin representing Nick Kotsiras (Minister for Multicultural Affairs and Citizenship), Bryan Tee,Jude Perera, India High Commissioner D.r Behera, Mayor Youhern Chea, Cow1cilor Angela Long, Leanne McCreed, all of whom eagerly displayed their prowess on me floor.

This fun day out was great for all - families, couples, seniors and students, as it had an eclectic bl end of activities for all ages and interests The o rganisers thank the 1,,uest artistes who do nated their time to ma ke me event a success.

The Bollywood Festival was a tribute to multiculturalism, and became a reality manks co tlie tireles s efforts of the subcommittee from Foster Street Traders Association, Prabhar Sharma, Katliryne Tmron -Lane, Shanulla Singh, Hitesh Shah and Baba Saeed. Funded from a smaU seed g rant from the Office of MultiCL1l turalism and proudl y sponsored from the ANZ Mobile J\foney Lenders, Bank of Melbourne, City o f Greater Dandenong, Places Vic, Bikaneer Sweers, Punjab Sweets, Calcutta Sweets, Roshan Fashions, Dulhan Excl usives Fashions, Heidi Rose, I ikta Fashion, India Bazaar and tlie Indian media, tl1e event was a resounding success ru1d it is hoped that it becomes a n annual one.