Punjabi American Festival Celebrates Cultural Heritage of Sacramento Valley’s Largest South Asian Population. More than 10,000 people on Sunday, May 30th will celebrate and share their Punjabi roots during the 10th Annual Punjabi American Festival.

YUBA CITY, CA. May 25, 2003
Ashok Kumar

The Tenth Annual Punjabi American Festival will host more than 10,000 festival goers to a diverse selection of cultural heritage, including world-class entertainment and mouth watering food.

The Punjabi American Heritage Society was founded in 1993 with the purpose of creating a better understanding amongst different people living in this area and to educate our children about their ancestral roots. In the past ten years, many events have been organized to improve awareness and to educate fellow Americans.

At this year's festival, hundreds of local performing artists, including students from California schools, colleges and universities, will perform traditional Punjabi dances such as Bhangra, Giddha, Jhumar, Malwai Giddha and other south Asian dances. Traditional and modern styles of dance will also be presented. There will also be guest performances by Hispanic and performers from other cultures. In addition, vendors will be on hand providing many Punjabi and South Asian delicacies.

This year's festival will also highlight performances by internationally acclaimed artists, Jazzy Bains and Sukshinder Shinda. Ammtoje Mann, Bollywood movie director, will be honored for his work on the latest movie: Hawayein.

This year's festival will also feature: a painting exhibition by Manu Saluja of New York; and many educational documentaries in English will be shared with mainstream audience.

Punjabis were the first group of people from South Asia to start migrating to the United States more than a century ago. Between 1903-1908, Punjabis primarily worked on the Western Pacific Railways in Northern California. And two thousand Punjabis worked on a 700-mile road between Oakland and Salt Lake City, which today is modern interstate 80.

The growing network of railroad lines brought increased agricultural activity to large areas of the Sacramento Valley. Because of their agricultural experience from the Punjab Indus Valley, which historians acknowledge was one of the first civilizations to invent agriculture, Punjabis started moving into farming jobs. Today Punjabis play a vital role in the agricultural industry of the entire Central and Sacramento Valley's, and make up a majority

Punjabis have roots in the Punjab region between India and Pakistan. While a majority of Punjabis in the USA adhere to the Sikh religion, many wearing a Sikh turban and beard, other Punjabis are of Muslim, Hindu, or Christian faiths.

Please contact: Satnam @ 530-315-1248 for booth information, Mrs. Siripritam @ 530-632-5315 for sponsorship and Hitpal Deol @ 530-632-4965 for general questions or visit Punjabiamericanheritagesociety.org or email at Punjabiamerican@comcast.net