INDIA ASSOCIATION of CHARLOTTE - Press Release 2-12-2021
Covid has drastically impacted our very way of life. And after the trauma of having to cancel our annual Festival of India 2020, we have started planning for our festival this year. In our frequent interaction with our key partners like BPAC, CRVA etc., about their view of customer sentiment, we all share a sense that visitor confidence continues to improve as vaccine penetration grows within our community. But no credible data to help predict how folks even after having received the Covid vaccines, would psychologically feel about attending crowded events in the Fall time frame. Our challenge is to predict visitor sentiment about events in closed indoor settings, as against experiences in a totally open outdoors setting.
We continue to work with Belk Theater as well as other open venues like County Parks, but they are also struggling with making firm commitments right now, for the September/October time frame.
Our intent is to drive a festival this year, even though the venue, duration and timing may need to be different from what we have done in the past.
Our priority in doing the event is to focus on the health and safety of our visitors, our performers, our volunteers and all other stakeholders.
We hope to make a decision as soon as our venue partners respond with some firm commitments, and will update this posting as things develop. This is a plea to please check back here frequently for the latest status on Festival of India 2021
We are continuing to struggle with whether the festival venue this year should be indoors or outdoors. Our key challenge remains to gauge visitor sentiment on attending crowded events, even after a significant penetration of Covid vaccine within the community, around the Fall time frame.
We already have a slot reserved at Belk Theater for the 1st weekend of September, and are also working on a date with the Country Parks Dept., who seem ambivalent about committing anything, that far out.
We are also seriously exploring another option of offering glimpses of the Festival of India, in collaboration with CCCP (Charlotte City Center Partners), on their Charlotte SHOUT! events platform, scheduled to be held between Sept 17 – Oct 3 at many locations Uptown.
We are diligently pursuing all these options and eager to update you, as soon as we have a firm commitment and make a final decision.
Please stay tuned by checking status on the website. Thanks and we remain grateful for the support and patience of all our valued stakeholders.
The India Association of Charlotte, an IRS Non Profit cultural organization, is proud to present the annual Festival of India. This event is driven by an all volunteer team of dedicated folks, who generously give of their time & talent year after year.
But we depend on the enthusiastic support of our community and corporate sponsorship is the life blood of our enduring success in doing the festival for the last 25+ years. We greatly appreciate your interest in sponsoring our festival, and that sponsorship comes at a number of different levels. This is a plea for you to please contact Toni Sawhney at sponsor@indiafestival.net, to discuss your interest and additional relevant details. She can also be reached on her Cell: 704-604-2133.
We are grateful for the support from our sponsors for the festival of India. On behalf of the 150 volunteers, 1,000+ participants and 10,000 to 20,000 visitors to the annual Festival, we express our thanks and deep appreciation. Sponsorship helps defer the cost of the festival, keeping ticket prices low, and enabling thousands of attendees the opportunity to enjoy the festival at a low price.