31st AIA Annual Deepavali Festival to be held on October 7

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The Association of Indians in America, New York Chapter (AIA-NY) held its Benefit Gala for the 31^st Annual Deepavali Festival, which will take place at the iconic South Street Seaport on Sunday, October 7 from 12 noon to 7 p.m.

The gala was held at Leonard’s Palazzo in Long Island on September 22, and it was attended by Padma Shri Dr. Sudhir Parikh, founder and chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media; Chintu Patel, Co-Chairman of Amneal Pharmaceuticals; Vandana Sharma, Regional Manager of Air India and Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone along with many other community members.

According to a press release, AIA’s annual Deepavali Festival is one of the largest in the tri-state area and attracts more than 100,000 people, featuring corporate booths, food and clothing vendors, performances and activities for the whole family like the live grand display of fireworks that takes place at the end of the celebration.

This year, the festival will include celebrity singers Jaz Dhami and Shilpi Paul, the return of “Naach Inferno” where college dance teams from the Tri-State area will perform and an appearance by Ronald McDonald.

More celebrities are to be announced, according to a press release.

Also at the gala, many individuals were honored including Bharat Patel, CEO of Sun Development and Management Corp; Dr. Jagat Narula, Cardiologist, Professor and Associate Dean at the Icahn School of Mount Sinai; Kalpana Patel, President and CEO of Unique Comp Inc. and Drs. Nilesh and Preeti Mehta, President & CEO of Digestive Disease Care.

Vaibhav Chhabra received a Special Recognition Plaque for Innovation and Entrepreneurial ship while Asmita Bhatia and Divya Shah were given the Community Service Award.