Gurjar, Gujarati Association of New England organized their third fun filled cultural festival on Sep 07, 2019, at the Heritage Park, Lowell, MA which was a tremendous success.  Over 5,000 people attended the festivities and enjoyed the mouthwatering delicacies from various food vendors. The festival kicked off at noon, with the arrival of Congresswoman Lori Trahan and Mayor William Samaras of Lowell.

Congresswoman Lori Trahan addressed the crowd. She recognized the impact and involvement of Gujarati Association of New England over 40 years and said, “You may be a first generation dreamer or came a generation ago to plant their roots. This district is rich and contributes so much to our community. Your impact and your contribution is such an asset not only to our community but also our country. This is what makes our country great.” Mayor Samaras addressed the crowd with great enthusiasm, “I want to thank Gurjar Association for bringing Gujarati Culture to the city of Lowell and also the great work done in hurricane relief, and education.  This is an organization that thinks of other people and makes us so proud.”

In the core session, various dances from classical and semi-classical to Bollywood were presented and made everyone to swing along with the tunes and the artists on the stage. Soulful singing by Juhi Lalwani and Sarju Patel, Yoga demonstration by Smita Apte, bhangara by Sonal Bali, Inderpreet Singh and group made the audiences happy and joyful. Ice cream trucks, Henna tattoo, and a bouncy house kept youngsters engaged.

More than 45 retailers’ booths exhibited colorful clothing, accessories, and glittering jewelries. Women and youngsters made the retailers very happy by their generous shopping. Many charitable organizations like Indian Circle of Caring, Shishu Bharati, Akshay Patra and Ekal Vidhiyalay were hosted at the event and they too were pleasantly surprised with the outpouring support. It was very heartwarming to see that young volunteers working tirelessly to raise funds for their High Schools. Few lucky ones went home with Airpod, 50 inch TV,Vitamix  as the winners of raffle drawing and one young lady is of course flying anywhere in the world by the courtesy of Turkish Airline.

The day ended with smiley faces returning to their cars. From noon to 6.00pm, everyone including organizers and guests had so much fun.  The president of the organization Saroj Madhani thanked everyone for coming and making the event a grand success. She recognized with much appreciation the generous sponsorships received from Our Grand Sponsors Tufts Healthcare, and silver sponsors Laer Realty (Darshana Shah), DCU, Leader Bank (Sushil Tuli). Desai Foundation (Samir Desai) and Tanna Insurance (Dinesh Tanna), and said without whose support such mega event would not have been possible. She also thanked all the volunteers and MCs who worked tirelessly to put this event together.

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