For Vikrant Deshmukh, coming to I-Fest means taking part in his culture-even if his native country is thousands of miles away.
Deshmukh, a graduate student in medicine, attended I-Fest, held in the Fine Arts auditorium, for the first time Saturday.
I-Fest, which is organized by the Indian Forum of Utah, is an annual celebration that brings the community together through the form of traditional Indian songs and dance.
“Events like these give us a chance to recreate our culture even though we are so far from our native country,” he said. “It also gives us a chance to share our culture with our friends.”
Spreading awareness about the Indian culture paid off.
Rajeev Kumar, president of IFU, said that two years ago there was practically no crowd for the festival. This year, however, the auditorium was overflowing.
One of the main goals of I-Fest, Kumar said, is to bring together as many people as possible, regardless of their religion or race.
“It doesn’t matter if you are Hindu or Christian, you are going to find something you’ll like,” Kumar said.
Additionally, Deshmukh said that he saw more non-Indian people attending this year than he expected.
“Even though most of the people that come are Indian, a lot of people attend because they enjoy our culture,” Deshmukh said.
Sundar Srinivasan, an IFU committee member, said that one of the main reasons people attend the festival is to see the traditional Indian dances.
“We have over 75 performers, each with many talents,” Srinivasan said. “The best part is that they would not be shown off any place else.”
Seeing an Indian dance is a small way to teach people about the culture, Kumar said.
“For example, a lot of people don’t know that India has 25 languages,” Kumar said. “There are also a lot of cultures within the Indian culture.”