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The Asian American community in New Jersey came together May 31 at the New Jersey Expo and Convention Center in Edison to participate in the inaugural Asian American Heritage Festival. The lifestyle festival covered cultural entertainment, diverse culinary choices, wide range of shopping options and Bollywood celebrities. On display was a variety of on-stage performances, wide array of food options, over 100 corporate and vendor booths and engaging performances by the Bollywood celebrity ambassadors.
The show kicked off with some vocal and dance performances, followed by a Chinese fashion show and dance performances by students from dance schools in the tristate area. The audience witnessed classical Indian dance performances, Chinese dances, Bollywood dance sequences and several fusion dances. In the evening, the children from a local martial arts academy entertained the audience with their daredevil and high voltage performance.
As the evening progressed, the members of the Asian American community braved the nasty thunderstorms in the area to show up at the venue for the main event in the evening with New Jersey State Senator Sam Thompson, Consul General of India in New York Dnyaneshwar Mulay, and Bollywood actors – Abhay Deol, Nargis Fakhri and Omi Vaidya.
Vaidya was funny with his monologue comparing Bollywood to Hollywood movies. Fakhri made her first appearance in New Jersey and engaged with the audience by dancing and taking selfies with her fans on stage; while Deol made his entry to a loud cheer from the audience and launched into a Q&A session.
The day-long festival also had some unique features like free nutrition guidance, and blood pressure/glucose/cholesterol checkup by professionals from Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. Elderly members of the community were seen waiting patiently outside the booth to get their health check done and for their consultation with the RWJ staff.
“We wanted the Asian American community in the tristate area to experience an event that they would remember for a long time to come,” said Mamata Narula, CEO of Ultimate Media and the main organizer of the festival. “This year’s event was a launching pad for a larger and grander festival next year,” she added.
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