Something for everyone at the 20th Indo American Fair in New Jersey

- ADVERTISEMENT -

The 20^th Indo American Fair held in Mercer County Park in New Jersey, September 4, 2023, had something for everyone of the thousands of visitors who came to enjoy the culture, music, food, clothing, jewelry, as well as check out businesses and products on offer. Organizers estimated 6,000 people came to the Fair.

Launched in 2003, the Fair was recognized as one of the large South Asian events in the country, one that not only celebrates Indian culture and art, but also provides opportunities for businesses to promote their products.

From dances and songs to stalls promoting electric vehicles and health insurance, the Fair has wide-ranging appeal. Bhangra, dhol, fashion show of top designers, Bollywood performances, especially singer Mannat Noor who was the main attraction, with her chart-topping songs, were all part of the Fair that began at 11 am and went on till at least 7 pm.  Prior to her appearance and performance, many local singers and winners of many awards sang popular Bollywood and Pop songs. Odissi, Bharatnatayam, Kuchipudi and Kathak were among the classical dances featured at the Fair.

Numerous stalls scattered across the park brought businesses from around the US to the event.

A health insurance expert who had a stall at the Fair, said he was representing some of the leading companies and giving free advice to those interested.

At the EV stall selling bicycles and scooters, a boy said, “It was really fun” trying out the vehicles, and his father echoed his opinion.

Organizers said the Fair offers an excellent opportunity to sponsors and vendors to interact with thousands of potential customers at a personal level, while also performing important market research and gathering valuable demographic and economic data.

“The Fair is now 20 years old,” Dimple Anand, one of the co-organizers along with Rajesh Anand, and Priyanka Shah, told ITV Gold. “There are booths from all over USA,” and they include cuisine, financial booth, home renovation, pool and spa, etc., she added. “So, we have pretty much a booth for everybody here.”

Rides for kids, entertainment by performers from local dance schools and local singers, all combined to make it an enjoyable event.   There were also be impromptu dance competition from the audience and many give aways.

Among the fashion attractions were popular “kurti” tops, silk sarees, scarfs, stoles, handicrafts, bags, jewelry, bangles, diamond jewelry, one-gram gold jewelry and much more.

The Indo American Fair has become one of the much-anticipated events of the year from the tri-state region.  “In fact, it has become an institution of art, culture and heritage in New Jersey- according to Trenton Times,” organizers say on their website, referring to a leading New Jersey newspaper.

Many elected officials visited the fair and praised Indo American Fair for celebrating diversity for 20 years, putting efforts to bring in more and more people and spreading love and harmony in the community, the press release said. All of them applauded both Arun and Rajesh Anand, organizers, for doing community work, the press release said.

“In the past, the Fair was recognized as one of the best community events by the State of New Jersey and organizers were honored by the Senate and the General Assembly for promoting love, harmony and diversity in the State,” organizers said.

“Next year we are going to bring it bigger and better,” Dimple Anand said to ITV Gold.

Major sponsors of Indo American Fair 2023 were Parikh Worldwide Media/ITV Gold, RK Jewels, Thevia Thevenkumar from New York Life, Horizon, Radio Mirchi. Academy Dental, Royal Entertainment, Cinestar, Business NJ, Aaj Tak, Princeton Health Care, and BCB, among others.