Kamal Khan's incredible performance thrilled and had the audience of all ages spellbound
Despite heavy rain early in the morning thousands of people thronged to Yuba Sutter Fair Grounds to attend the 17th annual Punjabi American Festival. It is the largest event of its kind in USA. Sponsored by the Punjabi American Heritage Society of Yuba City, the festival is a way for those with Punjabi roots to celebrate and share their culture with fellow Americans.
The event started with the American National Anthem and Shabad Kirtan followed by performances by hundreds of children. This year the ladies' Giddha stole the show by their live singing and energetic performance..
Every year, the Society selects five students to receive $500 scholarships. This year six students were recognized on stage as scholarship recipients (one scholarship was divided in half to present to twin sisters who were equally qualified).
Recipients of the 2011 Punjabi American Heritage Society scholarships are: Charndip Singh Clair and Harmanprit Kaur Randhawa of Yuba City High School and Sukhpreet Kaur, Dilraj Kaur Dhillon, and Rubeena & Sureena Basra of River Valley High School.
The following were honored on stage by Society members for their selfless community service and human rights work: Attorney Gurpatwant Singh Pannun, legal adviser to Sikhs for Justice, Attorney Amar Shergill for helping victims of Hate Crimes, California Assemblyman Dan Logue for introducing ACR-181 declaring November 2010 as Sikh Appreciation month in California and the late Mr. Baldev Singh for his life time research on the true meaning of Guru Nanak’s teachings.
PAHS Dr Ghuman Honoring late Baldev Singh, his wife was presented plaque
PAHS uc davis bhangra team
Miss Jessica Kaur Chug won the Miss Punjabi American Talent title and Mr. Harman Singh Bath became Mr. Punjabi American.
Miss Virenda Gupta and Mr. Hargurjit Singh Jassar were adjudged runners up.
Dr Gurpreet Sjngh Dhugga conducted the contest very smoothly.
This year's festival included Film Festival in partnership with SikhLens. Riding the Tiger and Prisoners Song documentaries by Michael Singh were very well received by audience.
The festival transformed from local performances to the entertainment RDB which is musical group from Toronto, Canada. They are well know for their famous song Singh is King by Manj (Manjit Singh) along with his wife Nindy Kaur. Some of the younger spectators danced to the music and thoroughly enjoyed their performance.
The final performance of the festival was by Kamal Khan (winner of SA RE GA MA PA singing contest of ZEE TV, India). Kamal specially came from Mumbai to do his first ever solo performance in USA. His incredible performance thrilled and had the audience of all ages spellbound. His performance left an everlasting impression on everyone's mind...one that will never be forgotten.
Stage was managed by Asha Sharma (popular and well known stage announcer) and locals: Bhajan Aujla, Rajan Rai, Prabhjot Johl, Suky Bains, Jasbir S Kang and Davinder K Deol.
More pictures available at Mogavideo.com