As the summer comes to a close in Milwaukee, many people are hoping to squeeze out as much summertime enjoyment as possible before heading into fall. This weekend in particular, many people will be flocking to festivals such as Irish Fest or the last few days of the State Fair. However one lesser known festival hoping to make an even bigger presence than ever before is Milwaukee's third annual IndiaFest.
IndiaFest’s, organized by Spindle India, runs all day Saturday at Humboldt Park.
With 10,000 people predicted to attend, the one-day festival will provide festival goers an in-depth introduction into Indian culture and the Indian community.
The festival came to be in 2013, when the realization was made that Milwaukee, a city known for it's breadth of cultural festivals, didn't really have a festival that celebrated its large Indian community.
"What I’ve noticed over the years is that several sectors of the (Indian Community)…doing their own thing are connected to the Hindu Temple," producer and chairperson of IndiaFest, Purnima Nath, says. "But I didn’t see anything that is overarching everybody and overarching all religions and India is all about diversity.”
IndiaFest provides a look into Indian music, food and fashion. It also hopes to show the values and the cultural beliefs of the community - one of which is being open to diverse cultures.
“You cannot remain secluded. If you want to enrich your own life, you (have) to get all different kinds of views, all different kinds of perspectives and then integrate it to make it better. So that is the Indian essence," program director Suresh Krishnaiya says.
