Chicagoland eagerly awaits Desi Talk’s Second Annual Diwali Mela

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CHICAGO

Desi Talk Chicago will be celebrating 2nd Annual Diwali Mela on Sunday, October 8 12:00 pm to 8:00 P.M. at ​The Meadows Club 2950 W Golf Rd, Rolling Meadows, IL 60008. The chief guest of the event would be Consulate General Neeta Bhushan. Mayor of Chicago Rahm Emmanuel and other elected officials have also been invited. Last year over 120 participants performed and the event was attended by over 5000 people. This year, the organizers anticipate attracting an even larger crowd. US Bank, Western Union and Star Plus are few major sponsors of the event.

Diwali is synonymous with shopping; new clothes, jewelry, handicrafts, household items to name a few. Vendors showcase a variety of these items at Diwali Mela Chicago from various parts of US and India for display and sale. The organizers pride themselves with showcasing a unique and artful number of items from vendors that are mostly home-based and do not have regular shops; so, the only way to buy these exclusive handpicked items is at Diwali Mela Chicago. Performances by Bollywood celebrities and local talent are the highlight of Diwali Mela Chicago. Full day entertainment for all ages include Indian classical and folk-dance performances, Bollywood karaoke singing, antakshari, Bollywood dances, Rangoli, Garba-Raas, bhangra, DJ Music and dancing. “We performed at the mela last year and are looking forward to this year’s performance. It’s a great platform for local dance schools to showcase their talent”, said one of the dance group coordinators.

The all-day event attracts crowds from the entire Midwest as it is a unique program with authentic shopping experiences. In addition to the cultural performances, the shopping experience featuring stalls and variety of booths for clothes, ethnic jewelry, and special booth on children’s stories book seem to be a huge attraction for the patrons. One of the highlights of the event is the unveiling of a Diwali book along with story-telling describing the five-day Diwali festivities. “This book talks about all five days of Diwali festivities starting from Dhanteras to Bhai Dooj explaining significance of each day. Our effort is to teach mythology through fun stories”, said one of the writers of the book Ajanta Chakraborty. Dance varieties will range from Bollywood, fusion and classical. The venue offers free parking and free admission coupled with a great variety of entertainment and authentic shopping extravaganza.

“Desi Talk Chicago first started Diwali Mela last year and its was very successful. It is very rare that an organization offers a free event to the public and that too at a great venue. Most of the events have a ticket price but Desi Talk Mela offers free admission and provides great entertainment and a variety of shopping booths for all ages”, said Bhailal Patel, Executive Vice President Desi Talk Chicago.

Those interested in having a booth at the event may call: 773-856-3445 or 212-675-7515 x 102 and for participation in cultural activities the phone-number is 201-450-2818.