THUNDER BAY – The Festival of India and Festival of Colours held at Marina Park over the weekend brought out hundreds of people.
Prashant Jani, organizer of both festivals, said these events are always a lot of fun.
On Saturday, the Festival of India had a lot going on including a free feast.
“Traditional East Indian music and dance activities are going on. At the same time, we are serving a free, delicious meal for thousands of people as well as there are a lot of vendors and children’s activities.
“We have exhibits about culture, philosophy, life in India and lots of vendors are also here."
This was the 15th year of Festival of India and it just keeps growing, Jani said.
“When we first started we had 60 people and last year we had about 7,000 people. The event has grown considerably in terms of the number of people participating and in terms of sponsors, volunteers and community support.
“Thunder Bay has changed a lot and it feels like the community is welcoming all the new immigrants, new families moving in and everybody is finding Thunder Bay as their home away from home,” he said.
“At the end of the day, what counts is how much we love each other and how much we help make each other's lives beautiful and colourful.”
Held on Sunday, the Festival of Colours is a tradition that has been around for thousands of years.
“It is called a Holi festival in India and this usually happens in the spring time.”
At the Festival of Colours, people were able to purchase colours and throw them into the sky every half hour. Jani said there is a deeper meaning in what throwing the colours represents.
“When we throw the colour in the wind, it represents that we are throwing the worries into the wind and making our life joyful and colourful.
“Everybody is coloured with the different colours. You can't identify who is white, black, brown, yellow because we all are one and there is no difference between all of us,” he said.
Jani said colour unites everybody in a true sense.
The Festival of Colours is about 10 years old, Jani said, adding the first event had four people, and now they have around 4,000 people participating.
“We see about 120 volunteers helping us out for both day's events, which includes volunteers helping us in cooking, serving, cleaning, set up and take down.”
Jani said after living in Toronto for six years prior to Thunder Bay, he can see a big difference in the community.
“People of Thunder Bay are so kind and loving and compassionate and helpful. This event would not have been possible to grow to this extent without the help and support of the community of Thunder Bay,” he said.
