Avon Indian Community Association
Bringing Indian heritage to a wider audience through Diwali Festival of Light
The Avon Indian Community Association (AICA) is an umbrella organisation for Indian communities living in the Bristol area. It was established in 2007 and since inception has grown from strength to strength. We currently have 400 Facebook followers and just over 300 members, many of whom are female and elderly. The AICA is run entirely by volunteers.
Our vision is to provide a platform for promoting social cohesiveness within the current and new generations of people of Indian origin and the wider community.
The AICA also strives to create better understanding and awareness of Indian culture, heritage and values to encourage and promote cross and inter-cultural communication. One of the ways we achieve this is by running and celebrating important social events - bringing communities together to celebrate Indian history and culture.
I am pleased to report that in 2023 was our biggest Diwali event yet attracting some 800 people.
The event included a collaboration of traditional and Bollywood inspired dances. We had a great variety of talent and creativity from kids to teenagers to adults and professionals!
The evening began with introduction to dignitaries and guests and then starting with the Bharatnatyam dance, Kuchipudi followed and then ghoomar, semi classical and various folk-dances until it slowly merged into Bollywood inspired dancing and hit numbers. It was very beautiful to watch enthusiastic dancers eager to showcase their talent!
One of the highlights was a fashion parade display of wedding dresses from various states in India and it was just so extravagant - the styles of wearing saris, the different types of hair-dos and the huge variety of jewellery.
The event had a great theme of celebrating Race Equality on the occasion of Diwali with 'Movema' which is a mixed race dance troupe who did 2 Indian dances, which was very well received, cheered and clapped by the audience who wanted MORE!
The party ended with Bhangra beats and everyone joined in free style! The food was nice and plentiful - several people took home their favourite sweets and savouries - true Indian style - everyone returned home feeling happy, after meeting friends and with best wishes for a prosperous new Hindu year!
More info:
www.avon-ica.org
