{"id":43665,"date":"2017-03-02T18:19:54","date_gmt":"2017-03-02T12:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org\/?p=43665"},"modified":"2017-03-02T18:19:54","modified_gmt":"2017-03-02T12:49:54","slug":"30th-annual-festival-showcase-indian-food-dance-music-estero-naples-daily-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=43665","title":{"rendered":"30th annual festival to showcase Indian food, dance and music in Estero &#124; Naples Daily News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>People interested in India&#8217;s rich culture can experience the country&#8217;s food, music and clothing first-hand at the 30th Annual India Fest on Saturday.<br \/>\n\u201cIt\u2019s a great day to experience Indian culture,\u201d said Rajiv Varshney, chair of the India Association of Fort Myers Board of Trustees. \u201cIt\u2019s just a unique situation. You\u2019ll be able to see traditional Indian dance, costumes, food and can even take a memento home.\u201d<br \/>\nPreviously hosted in Fort Myers, the festival has moved to the Estero Recreation Center, at 9200 Corkscrew Road, this year for the first time.<br \/>\n\u201cWe have about 3,000 people who come to the festival,\u201d Varshney said. \u201cFinding a venue that has the right amount of space and parking is important. It\u2019s the best route for us.\u201d<br \/>\nReaching out to thousands of people can seem difficult for an organization of about 120 families, but the association is close-knit and thriving, said Gopal Panday, the group&#8217;s president.<br \/>\n<img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/29679fbb071deb7f3289c07f9fea9db2fcc96534\/c=1-0-799-600&amp;r=x408&amp;c=540x405\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/02\/27\/Naples\/Naples\/636238244768003538--3-.JPG\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" \/><br \/>\n\u201cBasically, with our environment, it\u2019s more relevant for us to reach out on a much larger scale than what we did before,\u201d Panday said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to put out how we as a community are. We\u2019re trying to connect with local people living in the Estero, Bonita and Fort Myers area.\u201d<br \/>\nThe 30th anniversary calls for a special guest, and a musician from Chicago is coming down to perform, Varshney said.<br \/>\n\u201cPandit Sandip Burman will be performing,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t think people listen to much Indian fusion music, but he provides an interesting mix of Indian and western music. I haven\u2019t heard him perform, but I\u2019m looking forward to it.\u201d<br \/>\nThe event is set for 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Burman should be live on stage from about 12:45 to 2:15 p.m.<br \/>\nMusic is not the festival&#8217;s only draw, Varshney said.<br \/>\n\u201cThe key parts have always been the great Indian food available,\u201d he said. \u201cPeople can find a taste of everything. We\u2019ll have on-stage performances by local community members \u2014 different dances and fashion shows. You can get the culture of India. And some merchandise is available for people to buy and take home.\u201d<br \/>\nIndia Fest is the association\u2019s largest event, and the $5 entrance fee goes right back to the community, Panday said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"module-position-PxGTZdLQNkM\" class=\"story-asset image-asset\">\n<aside class=\"wide single-photo\">\n<div style=\"width: 550px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\" td-modal-image\" src=\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/29679fbb071deb7f3289c07f9fea9db2fcc96534\/c=1-0-799-600&amp;r=x408&amp;c=540x405\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/02\/27\/Naples\/Naples\/636238244768003538--17-.JPG\" alt=\"The festival, now in its 30th year, features authentic\" width=\"540\" height=\"405\" data-mycapture-src=\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/media\/2017\/02\/27\/Naples\/Naples\/636238244768003538--17-.JPG\" data-mycapture-sm-src=\"http:\/\/www.gannett-cdn.com\/-mm-\/3d5569507733ca056af5edaf0a2a8036c559fb13\/r=500x375\/local\/-\/media\/2017\/02\/27\/Naples\/Naples\/636238244768003538--17-.JPG\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">The festival, now in its 30th year, features authentic Indian cuisine. (Photo: SUBMITTED)<\/p><\/div><br \/>\n<\/aside>\n<div class=\"clearfix\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cWe try to contribute as much as possible on a charitable basis,\u201d he said. \u201cWe give back to the community through those donations.\u201d<br \/>\nBut this event is about bringing a slice of India to Florida, Panday said.<br \/>\n\u201cWe want to expose us to a lot of community members as to what we\u2019re all about,\u201d he said.<br \/>\n<span class=\"print_infobox\"><strong>If you go<\/strong><br \/>\nWhat: India Fest 2017<br \/>\nWhen: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, March 4<br \/>\nWhere: Estero Recreation Center, 9200 Corkscrew Road, Estero<br \/>\nCost: $5 per person entrance<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>People interested in India&#8217;s rich culture can experience the country&#8217;s food, music and clothing first-hand at the 30th Annual India Fest on Saturday. \u201cIt\u2019s a great day to experience Indian culture,\u201d said Rajiv Varshney, chair of the India Association of Fort Myers Board of Trustees. \u201cIt\u2019s just a unique situation. You\u2019ll be able to see [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43665"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=43665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=43665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=43665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=43665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}