Festival of India delivers joy (10 photos)

THUNDER BAY – It’s not every day one gets to experience traditional Orissi dance or homemade pakoras in Thunder Bay – a fact that fueled organizer Dr. Prashant Jani’s determination to see the city's Festival of India go ahead this year.

The event usually draws thousands to the Marina Park in July – a logistical impossibility in the time of COVID-19.

Instead, Jani and the team of volunteers behind the festival organized it as a smaller, drive-in affair this year. While it may not quite match the usual celebration, Jani was simply happy to offer it in some form.

“It’s a lot of joy, a lot of happiness,” he said. “[It’s] not as usual, but something is better than nothing.”

About fifty cars had pulled in to the CLE grounds for the event by the time it started Saturday evening. Attendees experienced traditional Indian music and dance, while volunteers delivered steaming containers of curry, naan bread, samosas, pakoras, and other Indian fare cooked on site to vehicle windows.

Jani, a pathologist at Thunder Bay’s regional hospital, started the event after moving from Toronto in 2005. Finding few outlets to celebrate Indian culture, he determined to create some of his own.

About 100 people showed up to the Bora Laskin Auditorium for the inaugural festival. By the next year, it was outgrowing the venue, and subsequently moved to the waterfront. It hasn’t stopped growing – last year, Jani estimates it drew around 9,000 people.

He’s since helped organize the Festival of Colours, a complimentary event that will be held Sunday at 4 p.m., also at the CLE grounds.

Speaking before the event, Thunder Bay-Superior North MP Patty Hajdu praised organizers for pressing forward in a year “where coming together is more difficult than ever before.”

The event had served as a gateway for many residents to better appreciate Indian culture, she told attendees.

“When they started this festival, it was really to build on the diversity of Thunder Bay and introduce new forms of music, culture, art, and food, and belief,” she said. “It’s introduced this beautiful culture to so many residents of our community who didn’t know very much about it.”

Bhaktimarga Swami, also known as “the walking monk,” came from Toronto to attend the celebration. In his introductory remarks, he emphasized the festival went beyond entertainment and delicious food.

“At the root of this event, it is about spirituality – getting down to your soul and the realization that ‘I’m not the body, I’m the spirit, and my spirit will move on after my body goes.’”

Tickets for Sunday’s Festival of Colours, also a drive-in event, are available online or on arrival at the CLE.