Dayton (Ohio): To celebrate diversity and arts in the community, the 19th Annual Culture Fest of Springfield (Ohio) was held at Springfield City Hall Plaza. Thousands gathered on Saturday afternoon to explore offerings of numerous diverse cultures through entertainment, information booths, activities and food from 11am to 6pm to attend this free event. They encountered an eclectic array of live music acts, different booths featuring traditional cuisine, crafts and information from a variety of cultures. Punjabis living in the Springfield, Dayton, and Cincinnati area celebrated this song and dance festival by exhibiting Gidha and Bhangra. Event organizers thanked Springfield residents Avtar Singh, his wife, Sarabjit Kaur, and the group for performing Punjabi dance for the past many years. Various booths were set up by different communities such as Indian, Italian, Greek, Chinese and Mexican. S Avtar Singh and his family, residents of Springfield supported by other members of Sikh community from Dayton organized the Punjabi booth. They have been organizing participation in this Festival for the past several years.
S Avtar Singh presenting book to Springfield City Mayor Warren Copeland
To create awareness about the Sikhs and Turban in the context of Indian culture, pictures and posters about "Significance of Uncut Hair", "Tying of the Hair and Turban", "Sikh Turbans", "Sikhs Contribution in World Wars", "Sikhs in US Army" were displayed. Books such as "The Sikhs" "Harmandir Sahib", "Warrior Saints", "Sikh Wedding" and others were also displayed. Attendees were offered the chance to learn about Sikhs in the form of question answers, free brochures on Sikhs published by the Sikh Coalition, SALDEF and a booklet called "Sikhi: Faith and Followers" published by the Sikh Research Institute. Dayton Gurdwara Head Granthi, Bhai Darshan Singh, Sameep Singh Gumtala, Ravjot Kaur, Manpreet Singh, Rajpal Singh Bajaj, Kuldip Singh Rattan, Gurtej Singh and Eknoor Kaur provided answers to the questions asked by visitors to the booth.
Eknoor Kaur giving information to visitors
Gurtej Singh and his wife, Eknoor Kaur, who also wears a Dastar, recently moved to Dayton and attended this event for the first time, said that they enjoyed the chance to learn about new cultures. Both of them did not take a break all afternoon in answering questions and invited many visitors to come to the Dayton Gurdwara Sahib. "We just want to make people aware of who we are," he said. "Most people don't even know who we are when they see us. It's a good opportunity to meet other people, learn about their culture, and tell them about our culture. Singh added: "You need diversity because it will bring different cultures, different kinds of people, and they have different kinds of knowledge. You need the collaboration to be successful."
Sikh Community members with Clark County Commissioner John Detrick
Bhai Darshan Singh & Gurtej Singh answering visitor questions
In the booth, Punjabi artifacts such as spinning wheel (Charkha), churner (Madhani), seat chair (Peerhee), grinding stone (Atta chaki), harmonium, hand drum (Damru), Punjabi Tong (Chimta) were also displayed. Many visitors wanted to buy displayed books and artifacts. Distinguished guests who visited the booth includes Clark County Commissioner John Detrick, Springfield City Mayor Warren Copeland, City Police Chief, organizers of the event Nancy Flinchbaugh, Chris Moore, Clara Copeland, Lafferty Pike and others. They were given the book "Sikhi: Faith and Followers" as a souvenir.
