For past many years IAMV has held a grand Diwali Mela every 5 years. 2015 was the year of Diwali Mela!

 

A grand Diwali mela was organized at North Andover High school on October 17th. The committee and the helpful board worked for many months leading up to the event. As the date drew closer the excitement in the members as well the participants was palpable. On the evening before the Mela there was lot of excitement and chatter while the members decorated the school and performers did their rehearsals.

 

Finally the day arrived. There was a grand IAMV Cultural event with a cultural show and a Dance competition. The cultural program was really spell binding with great performances by kids and adults alike. Dance competition was a great hit. There were several teams competing in each category. They were all so good, it took some extra time for judges to decide the winner! Finally after much waiting the winners were announced which of course was followed by loud uproar and applause. All winner and cultural event performers were presented with Trophies for their participation. Its really a great way of encouraging kids to join and perform on stage.

 

Then after the performances the auditorium was filled with beautiful music by singing group 'Aaroh' with wonderful singers and Live Orchestra.

 

The whole school was transformed into Diwali Mela venue! While the performances were on in the auditorium, the gymnasium was filled with vendors showcasing their great collections. There was a huge variety of vendors, there were clothing and jewelry booths, Mehndi booth, as well as booths by local schools, music schools and other businesses.

The floor was open to dance and dandiya by DJ Tej.

At the same time lots of games were ongoing including Rangoli and Hula hoop competition. There was a inflatable jumping zone for kids which was constantly full of kids playing on it. The activity and fervor of the Gym was amazing. It reminded us of our days in India when we grew up going to Diwali Mela every year!

 

Cafetaria was full of aroma of great food. There was so much variety of food. There were several stations with south indian, north indian, chaat, bhel, choley bhaturay, mango lassi, mango kulfi!

 

IAMV youth group gives opportunities to teenagers to give back to the community. Their community service hours are tracked and certificates handed out on a yearly basis for recognizing their volunteer hours. The participants from youth group were everywhere, helping in various ways. The Host Emcee of the cultural event were from youth group and they were really good, they kept the audience engaged with their questions and made the show lot of fun for kids and adults alike.

 

It surely was one of its kind event in the area. People were texting and talking about it for long and some people even asked when is the Mela coming back! And to that question, the answer is yes, Mela is coming back soon. IAMV has decide to hold the Mela every year from now on.

For more information please visit our website at IAMV.org