PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 1, 2006 (PRIMEZONE) -- Celebrate the ethnic heritage of India at Penn's Landing on Saturday, August 19, 2006. This FREE event will continue from noon until 8 p.m. with a day full of food, music, dancing and crafts. The Festival of India will be held at the Great Plaza on Penn's Landing, on Columbus Boulevard at Chestnut Street. With a theme of "India Advances," this event, which attracts close to 10,000 people each year, will provide this year's guests with a range from traditional to contemporary art, music and dance. This festival, produced by the Council of Indian Organizations (CIO), is supported by the more than 25 active Indian organizations in the Greater Philadelphia region. This event, one of the ten cultural festivals that make up the PECO Multicultural Series is also made possible by Independence Blue Cross, the presenting sponsor of the 2006 summer season at Penn's Landing.
This year's festival will begin with classical dances like the Bharatanatyam, which is the most widely practiced and ancient of the classical Indian dances. It is explained as being an artistic yoga to bring the spiritual into the physical. There will also be other classical dance performances of Kuchipudi and Kathak, both of which are more dramatic in form. There will be folk dancing as well, including Bhangra, and new styles of Bollywood. Bhangra is a combination of singing and dancing that became a popular dance at parties, weddings and social functions. A type of drum called a dhol can accompany the singing part of Bhangra, as can a single stringed instrument known as an iktar, and an instrument that somewhat resembles a pair of tongs called a chimta.
Vendors will be on hand selling traditional Indian arts and crafts including clothes, jewelry, music, and other cultural items. A ceremonial decoration, Mehandi, will be available to be done on the hands in different designs. This Henna-based paste is squeezed onto the skin and when sets, flakes away to leave a red tinted pattern which lasts about two weeks. Rangoli, a decoration of worship, will be demonstrated. Rangoli is described as a design that is first drawn then decorated with different colored powders or sand. The powder or sand can also be mixed with paint or food color to add to the design.
The Festival will also feature The India Pavilion, which will exhibit India's transformation through rich heritage and modern industry. There will also be brief sessions on such topics as yoga, Indian Art, music, instruments, books, artistic interpretations and culture. One of the presentations will be on "How to tie or wrap a Saree." A Saree (or sari) is the traditional dress of Indian and Pakistani women, consisting of a long length of cloth. One end is wrapped around the waist, forming a skirt, and the other is draped over the shoulders and head. Event attendees can learn about a clothing habit that comes naturally to every Indian female as she ties a Saree, on a daily basis all over India.
A variety of food will be offered from both North and South India for visitors to enjoy. The authentic Indian fare will include Kolkata rasgulla (punder balls in sugar syrup), Gujrati dohkla (a salty steamed cake), and Chennai idli (a steamed batter made from black lentils and rice).
This free event, presented by PECO and the Council of Indian Organizations in Greater Philadelphia works to publicize the importance of the Indian culture and community to the Philadelphia region.
Council of Indian Organizations in Greater Philadelphia (CIO) was established in 1983 as an umbrella organization and has grown to represent more than 25 active Indian organizations in the Greater Philadelphia area. The organization's objectives are to provide a common platform from which to pursue common goals, to promote and coordinate community activities, to provide civic and political education to people of Indian origin, and to act as a representative for the Asian Indian community.
Admission is free for all PECO Multicultural Series events. PECO presents a series of free Multicultural festivals throughout the summer season at the Great Plaza at Penn's Landing.
Supporting the region's diversity has been a longstanding goal for PECO, which has sponsored the multicultural festivals at Penn's Landing for the past ten years. "All of us at PECO are thrilled to return again to the waterfront to support the multicultural festivals," said PECO president Denis O'Brien. "Penn's Landing is a Philadelphia summertime tradition and the PECO Multicultural Series is a fun way for us to celebrate the wide range of diversity represented in our service territory."
PECO is proud to be Philadelphia's hometown energy company and one of the region's most prominent civic supporters. PECO is committed to recruiting and retaining a diverse workforce and celebrating diversity inside and outside the Company.
Based in Philadelphia, PECO is an electric and natural gas utility subsidiary of Exelon Corporation (NYSE:EXC). PECO serves 1.6 million electric and 470,000 natural gas customers in southeastern Pennsylvania. In 2004, the company delivered 37.5 million megawatt-hours (Mwh) of electricity and 87.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas to residential, business and institutional customers. PECO's energy delivery services generated $4.49 billion in revenue for Exelon.
Founded in 1881, PECO is one of the Greater Philadelphia Region's most active corporate citizens, providing leadership, volunteer and financial support to numerous arts and culture, education, environmental, economic development and community programs and organizations.
Public Programming at Penn's Landing would not be possible without our presenting sponsor Independence Blue Cross and the continued support of PECO, Commerce Bank, Pennsylvania Lottery and the Greater Philadelphia Tourism Marketing Corporation, all of whom are committed to serving the Greater Philadelphia community.
Penn's Landing Corporation is the non-profit organization responsible for funding and producing public programming at Penn's Landing. Independence Blue Cross is the presenting sponsor of the 2006 Summer Season at Penn's Landing, featuring free programming every weekend, Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. All events produced by Penn's Landing Corporation are FREE to the public and on the Great Plaza, the heart of Penn's Landing, Philadelphia's premier riverfront entertainment destination.
For more information on event locations and event details, please call (215) 922-2FUN or visit www.pennslandingcorp.com. The Penn's Landing Corporation website is a virtual resource for the waterfront where visitors can plan to park, play and stay all day at Penn's Landing.
The Penn's Landing Corporation logo is available at http://media.primezone.com/prs/single/?pkgid=349