Toronto hosts Festival of South Asia

TORONTO: The weekend of August 15-16 was particularly fun, not only for the huge population of South Asian descent in Toronto, but also for all other ethnicities. Gerrard India Bazaar was all dressed up for the annual South Asian Festival that showcased culinary delights, live entertainment, henna painting stalls, Bollywood workshops, mural colouring for kids and much more.
Restaurants were busy dishing out traditional favourites of butter chicken and naan, roti and curry combos, samosas and gulab jamuns, among a vast variety of food on offer. Cool beverages of sugarcane juice, lassi and mango shakes were quenching parched throats and taking patrons on a nostalgic ride back to their roots. Just after noon, the big stage set up for cultural performances came to life with Bollywood parodies sung enthusiastically by Faisal Raza with music from Mohammad Ahmad.

Spectators cheered and danced along the peppy tunes of Yamma yamma, Meri umar ke naujavanon, Khaike paan Banaras-wala and many other catchy numbers, basking under a warm sun and soaking up India’s sounds and flavours.
Bargain-hunters had a field day with fascinating deals on saris, suits, jewellery, kitchenware, herbal beauty products and appliances and a wide range of accessories. Vendors grabbing attention by hollering out the lucrative prices of funky sunshades and sandals reminded one of Sarojini Nagar market in Delhi.

Toronto, one of the most multicultural cities of the world, has a foreign-born population of 48.6% according to the 2011 National Household Survey performed by Statistics Canada, which is why parallel festivals were celebrated on this weekend. On Sunday, August 16, many went for ‘Panorama India’ at Yonge and Dundas Square—Toronto’s hottest hangout spot in the downtown core. That event was attended by federal leaders like Jason Kenney, minister of national defence and minister for multiculturalism, along with Chris Alexander, minister of citizenship and immigration in Canada.