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The award-winning Zee Heritage India Festival completed its third season
in grand style in June , as thousands enjoyed a spectacular fireworks and laser show, stirring performances by a renowned Rajasthani dance and music troupe, tremendous shopping values, great food and family fun at the Montgomery County Fairgrounds in Gaithersburg, Md.
The festival, held in San Jose, Ca., followed by Chicago, Edison, NJ, Lawrenceville, Ga., and Gaithersburg, Md., drew thousand to each venue, as festival goers enjoyed traditional Rajasthani dances and music by a 12-person troupe headlined by the renowned musician and entertainer Rehmat Khan Langa.
The performances, which were held for hours at a time throughout both days of each festival, featured a puppet show, traditional Rajasthani music, dances like kachhi ghodi, tehra taali and banjara, and more. At various points throughout the festival, the troupe’s musicians and dancers could be seen meandering around the fairgrounds, dancing and interacting with festival goers.
“We really wanted to turn the entertainment up a notch this year. The incredible response towards Mr. Langa’s dance troupe was especially gratifying. Items like kachhi ghodi, the puppet shows and traditional Rajasthani dances are something that most South Asians that have grown up here have never seen before. We are proud that we were able to bring it to them,” said Shishir Misra, President of Rushi Entertainment.
The dance troupe performed at all five festivals this year, courtesy of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, an agency within the Indian government. “Of course, we’re incredibly grateful to the ICCR for providing us access to the wondrous talents of Mr. Langa and his troupe,” Mr. Misra said.
As an added attraction, each venue featured dancers, musicians and artists from local communities and dance schools. Dances from all across India were featured over the five-week festival.
The five-week celebration of Indian heritage and culture culminated June 19 at the Gaithersburg festival, as multimedia events company Shaan Production provided a spectacular fireworks and laser show, the likes of which has never been seen before at an Indian event.
“I don’t think it’s possible for families to get the incredible diversity of entertainment, shopping, food and kids’ activities for a $5 ticket anywhere else. We’re incredibly proud of the value we offer our customers. The finale fireworks and laser show in Gaithersburg was just icing on the cake,” said Mr. Misra. “The festivals offered local performers a great opportunity to be seen and possibly discovered. Who knows? Maybe in a few years, we’ll see a big star who first got his or her start at one of our festivals.”
In addition to the vast variety of stage entertainment, the festival also served as a tremendous marketplace for all things South Asian – from arts and handicrafts for the home to the latest cotton fashions from India to classic and contemporary costume jewelry to beautiful Rajasthani and Punjabi artwork, the festival had a little something for everybody’s shopping tastes. Vendors came to each venue from as far as the U.K., New York, New Jersey, North Carolina and Atlanta to provide attendees with variety and value.
“By bringing vendors from the U.K. and all over the U.S., the festivals create a huge business-to-business platform for many small companies that otherwise are not able to venture out into other markets,” said Mukesh Maini, Assistant Vice President of Marketing for Rushi Entertainment. “Not only are vendors able to sell to the end consumer, but the networking opportunities allow vendors to create distributorships and establish long-term relationships with cross-country clients.”
Not to be outdone by the shopping and entertainment, popular South Asian restaurants from each venue’s metropolitan area provided mouth-watering dishes from all over India. A sampling of the cuisine included dosas, vadas, Indian-Chinese, masala chai, bhel puri, chicken and beef kabobs, kulfi, samosas, vegetable cutlets, potato patties, fresh sugarcane juice, and much more.
“This year, we were sure to bring a great variety of cuisine to the festivals to make it a true representation of India,” said Mr. Maini.
Children who attended the festivals had enjoyed a full day of activity, as international nonprofit agencies Vibha and Asha for Education provided a host of carnival games and activities like coloring, face painting and mehndi to keep children entertained.
Rushi Entertainment is an award-winning multimedia South Asian entertainment company based in Maryland. The company’s flagship events are the Zee Heritage India Festival and the Zee International Bhangra Championship, which will next be held Nov. 6 in New York City. Additionally, the company is introducing a Bridal Expo, which will be held September 12 in Fairfax, Va.
For more information about Rushi Entertainment, please visit the company’s corporate web site at www.rushiinc.com. For interviews with Rushi Entertainment’s management team, contact Gagan Nirula at 301.213.1343 or via e-mail at
gagan@bgmw.com..
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