The India Festival 2013, a six-day event to celebrate the various communities in India, bid adieu on Friday with exotic cultural and musical performances.
The Indian community in Jeddah enjoyed the extravaganza and entertainment, presented by local and international artists and students of the Indian schools.
All the events were organized at the International Indian School, Jeddah (IISJ, boy’s section), where thousands of people were accommodated.
A glittering ceremony in the presence of the Indian Consul General, Faiz Ahmed Kidwai, brought the festival to close, which began on Jan. 16. Kidwai said, “Culture is the path that leads to provincial solidarity which promotes religious harmony, love, peace and brotherhood in the entire nation. We can only maintain our prestige if we remain attached to our culture and traditions.”
The festival raised around SR 400,000, which will be spent on aid projects for poor Indians in the Kingdom and India and for Indians in prison.
The closing ceremony began with a dance performance by the IISJ girls’ section, which showcased different forms of Indian dance. The ceremony also saw an enthralling performance of robotic dance organized by the Keralite forum. All the performers presented beautiful memorable dances, which captivated and mesmerized the audience.
The highlight of the event was the performance of the popular Indian Idol singer, Ankita Mishra. The whole evening witnessed many performances, but the night belonged to Ankita whose high-energy, drum-filled performance stole the show. “It is such a great honor for me to come all the way from New Delhi and perform at the closing ceremony of the India Festival. I am thankful for the organizing committee and the Indian consul general to give me the privilege to perform for the lovely Jeddah audience,” she said.
The performance of Ankita included a duet with local singer Fareed Ali Khan. Together they sang some hit songs from Indian movies.
“This year’s festival was a tremendous success and a very memorable for bringing the community together. The festival really showed our diversity, an abundance of youth talent and creativity and it mirrored our hopes and expectations to see more of such events in the near future,” said Syed Mohammed, an Indian expatriate.
The consul general of India said the consulate was planning to organize more events, like a food festival with a variety of delicacies of India.
Curtains come down on India Festival 2013
