Lincolnshire India Day-2022
Sunshine and spices for Lincolnshire’s first India day, on Saturday 24th of September nearly 2000 people enjoyed a dynamic celebration of Indian culture.
The hosting of the first-ever Lincolnshire India Day by the Indian Cultural Organisation of Lincolnshire (ICOL) brought live music, traditional dancing,
crafts, games, henna painting and, of course, a range of Indian cuisine.
The crowd of nearly 2000 people included families, friends and couples, both of Indian origin and local community members made their way to The Engine Shed for the all-day fun-filled event, which also showcased the best India has to offer i.e., Yoga, Meditation, Ayurveda in addition to its food.
As the chief guest, The Consul General of India lauded the efforts put up by the newly formed organisation and holding the event at such a magnificent scale and congratulated the entire ICOL team led by Dr.Deepa Agarwal for their tireless work which brought the NHS on board. The Right Worshipful The Mayor of Lincoln, Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University of Lincoln and Chief of United Lincolnshire Hospital Trust inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp and highlighting the importance of the role played by Indian professionals and students in uplifting the cultural diversity of Lincolnshire. Thereafter, attendees enjoyed a spectacular Bhangra performance followed by a range of classical and Bollywood dance performances. The breathtaking visuals created on the stage backdrop by ICOL’s IT partner New IT Nest was highly praised by everyone.
A local person of Indian origin who has been a Lincoln resident for the last 44 years told us: “We have never seen something like this in Lincoln and the main
part of the attraction is the food. We love Indian food but have also really enjoyed the singing and dancing. We’ll definitely come back next year.”
Be it chicken biryani, lentil pakora, chaat, samosa, sweets, sugarcane juice or masala chai, there was something for everyone to enjoy at the festival celebrating all things India has to offer. The event also included a games zone and face painting for children, a raffle and stalls selling clothing and jewellery.
The Mela was concluded by Team ICOL including President Deepa Agarwal, Vice President Shiv Nand, Secretary Shoubhik Gupta and all team members thanking for the warm love and affection that Lincolnshire showered on them and for making the debut event a grand success, and promised a bigger event next year.
We would like to say a special thank you to our Community donations from all the communities in Lincolnshire.
A huge thank you to our special volunteers Lee Newton from Red Shoe Entertainment, Emma Olivier-Townrow from The Business Creative Lincolnshire who has played a key role and David Harrison from David Harrison Photography for capturing the spectacular photos covering the full event.
We would also like to thank all of our Volunteers who helped to make this event happen, as well as all of the Sponsors who supported us.
