AES 500-FESTIVAL PARADE: A JOYFUL SPECTACLE OF HOOSIER SPIRIT, A PROUD AND FABULOUS HEARTLAND CELEBRATION
Los Angeles/May 28, 2024
NRIpress.club/Ramesh/A.Gary Singh
Hoosier Sikhs and Asian Indians well-represented in the spectacular Parade. Here are a few Highlights of the Memorable Celebration:
The AES 500-Festival theme: "ICONIC IMAGES OF INDY" lived up to and excelled that spirit in its visually rich sights and sounds and an amazing tapestry at the annual Hoosier Parade that has emerged as the third largest nationally celebrated Parade in America since its inception in 1957.
Once again the Nationalities Council of Indiana, Inc. – over 100 strong and representing over 40 nationalities and ethnic groups were a part of the 2024 AES-500 Festival Parade.
As in the past over 80 spectacular floats, fabulous bands, giant balloons, celebrities dignitaries, 33-Race drivers, and nationality groups represented in their native and fabulously festive fashions and exotic adornments in the NCI Parade Unit. The 5-Olympic Gold Medalist and a beloved international Hoosier Basketball icon, Tamika Catchings, served as the Grand Marshall
of the 2024 AES Festival Parade.
The sunny Hoosier skies, joyous crowds, flags everywhere, and unbound excitement of over 200,000 spectators - a truly multi-generational and multicultural Parade patrons where
every segment of Hoosier and international communities were represented.
A large contingent of world and local media and thousand of cellphones recorded the colorful pageantry, warmly greeted and joyfully shouted as a familiar float, school and military bands,
celebrities, Race Car Drivers, Motor Cycle riders, magnificent Horse riders, the colorful Nationalities Parade Unit friends danced past, and much much more walked past in delightful spirit.
We saw a Hoosier fairy-tale of "Indiana-no-place to an amazing destination to call home" come alive with pride brimming with the fabled Hoosier attractions and surprises parading their continuing renaissance with a world-class spirit, rich traditions and heritage, and an emerging global leader in many fields in the Hoosier Heartland ON DISPLAY AND WELCOMING THE WORLD to see for themselves and become partners in her future.
As Parade participants, we do not get to see much of the fabulous Parade until later in the evening when NBC-WTHR 13 shares a two hour special of the highlights of the Parade. The attached photos focus on the Nationalities Council of Indiana, Inc.Parade participants. Our heart felt thanks to the 500-Festival for inviting us and to NCI President Marlon Alfonso and his Board and volunteers for attending to every detail for our participation in this spectacular 500-Festival Parade, a beautiful prelude to the 500-Mile Race, the Greatest Spectacle of Car Racing in the World." Respectfully, KP Singh (KP Singh Designs) - Indianapolis, Indiana
USA - May 25, 2024. (with Nationalities Council of Indiana, Inc., Marlon Alfonso, Asian American Alliance, Inc., Gurdwara Sikh Satsang of Indianapolis, Maria R Manalang, Geetha Nair, Nicole Martinez-LeGrand, Sidonia Nicolae, Diego Morales, Raju Chinthala, Maninder Singh, Anita Hjorth Lerche, Ammie Randhawa, Amy Conrad Warner, Chirjeev Kaur Oberoi, Jay Singh, Kiran Kaur Gill, Balbir Singh, Rupal Thanawala, Saurabh Raj Singh, Rodney Lloyd, Joyce A Bean Ketels, Indiana Historical Society, Sim J. Singh Attariwala, Rajwant Singh, Jennifer Robinson,
Center for Interfaith Cooperation, Tibetan Mongolian Buddhist Cultural Center, 500 Festival, Visit Indy, Leonard Hoops, Judith Thomas, Gurdip Singh Narula, Harbhajan Singh, Ashvin Navtej)
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